| Eventually you escape the
whirls of the walkways of the organ room and move on, passing this sleigh
along the way. It seems as though a collection of sleighs was bought but
there was nowhere to put them so they filled in where they could. |  |
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This didn't fit either, although it is a wonderful collection of early knife
type breakers (high current, low voltage). |
| So to the Circus Room
where there are over a million pieces of circus models. Much of the display
belongs to the Hagenbeck Wallace circus. It has a number of unusual features
including the food tent and the cooks next door preparing food. At the
beginning of the 20th century the Hagenbeck Wallace was the second largest
circus in the US. It was not particularly lucky. In 1913, the circus lost 8
elephants, 21 lions and tigers and 8 performing horses in the Wabash River
flood. In 1918 a troop train ran into the circus train in Indiana and 86
people died and 127 were injured in the resultant fire. It eventually merged
with Barnums and with Ringling Bros. |  |
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This is a more traditional display with the ring, artists and audience. |
| And another with the
animals performing, although one looks to have escaped. |  |
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There are sideshows like this knife throwing act. This picture is somewhat
larger than life size |
| But it was the displays
of the dressing room with partially clad (not naked) artists, the racks of
costumes and the wardrobe mistress with her sewing machine which I found to
be most unusual. |  |
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There are other displays like this rollercoaster which is quite spectacular.
You can judge the size by the HO railroad cars in the foreground. |
| A number of steamboats
were once modified as theatres and carried the circus (and other performers)
up and down the rivers. |  |
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This one model has a cutaway to show the stage and seating inside. |
| And on to another room
(although the dolls houses slotted in here). This is a very typical
oriental piece, the style of which we have seen elsewhere. It is incredibly
ornate and minute in its detail. I think they are done in a form of cork. |  |
| But this is ivory. Alex
Jordan was a bit of a fraud in many ways. He invented stories to go with
pieces to make them seem more important than they were. This may have been
one such piece since it was the most complex ivory carving we saw. |  |
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Another 'cork' sculpture, this time in a glass jar, ship-in-a-bottle style. |
| From wood to porcelain
but with just as much intricate detail and beautifully coloured. There is a
significant collection of this type of piece. |  |
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More figures, probably telling a story from Chinese mythology. We have
similar items in western culture but not usually so ornate. |
| A traditional soldier,
but in ceremonial armour? Again wonderful detail and a reminder that this
was once the most advanced civilisation and capable of producing such beauty
in real life - or is it just a figment of a much later imagination.... |  |
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This is a product of a more recent imagination. This is the largest cannon
ever built, probably for a fantasy war movie. Here we can only see the
wheels which are 20 ft high. We would have fitted comfortably in the barrel.
But it would never have worked, except in the movies. |
| In amongst the oriental
displays are some oriental dolls, although there are others in the doll
collection. |  |
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And there are bronzes scattered about, particularly of medieval knights,
leading towards the armour, which we get to soon. |
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