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  ARMORED CAROUSEL HORSE, MADE BY C.W. PARKER, LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS, ca 1915
Dimensions (inches): 77" w x 49" h
Description:
ARMORED CAROUSEL HORSE, MADE BY C.W. PARKER IN LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS, ca 1915:

Bejeweled and armored American carousel horse, an outside jumper made by C. W. Parker in Leivenworth, Kansas in the early part of the twentieth century, probably the mid-teens. A masterpiece of American carousel carving and one of the most sculptural and colorful examples I have ever encountered, the horse has great, early, in-service, park-painted surface. There is some splitting with minor associated loss and some missing and replaced jewels, but the condition is especially good for extended outdoor use. Because many of Parker's carousels were portable, more wear can be expected from his animals than from those of some other carvers. He was an avid businessman who's ideas changed the carnival industry. Because the carvings being turned out by his firm were rarely this elaborate, this would have certainly been the lead horse for a Parker carousel. This is further evidenced by the two brass rings which were placed on the spear finial of its helm, probably when the ride was disassembled for the last time and then eventually sold.

Brief history of Charles Wallace Parker (1864-1932)

"C.W. Parker started out as a $32 a week janitor at the Dickenson County Court House in Kansas. He saved his money to buy a second-hand carousel, and the Parker Carnival Show was born. An Arkansas newspaper in 1907 called him "a man who by his untiring efforts has rescued the carnival business from the gutter." What Parker's horses lacked in flamboyance was amply compensated for by their owner. The master showman renamed himself Colonel Parker, Carnival King, and the shoes on his carousel horses' feet were forged with his name."

(source: http://www.antiquesjournal.com/Pages04/archives/carousel.html)

Condition: Some splitting with minor associated loss. Some in-service replacement of jewels. One jewel absent.
   
Primary Color: multicolored
Earliest Date: 1910
Latest Date: 1920
For Sale Status: Sold
Price SOLD
E-mail: info@jeffbridgman.com
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