I found an article in an old French technical magazine La Nature from 1897 about a tin toy made by Martin.
This special piece is put in motion by stretching both sides of the cord, the air cyclist goes up and down when the cord is relaxed, the cyclist descends.
It was first made in 1897
length approx 16cm (6.3 inch)
Martin article number is 156

Free translation: The aerial unicycle.
The toy in question represents a unicyclist who climbs along a string that can be seen at the upper part and at the lower part of our drawing (n. 1 Detail view). It is easy to understand the mechanism that elevates the little climber.
Inside the wheel is a pulley movable around its center and on which winds the string.
This one penetrated into the wheel passing through a small ring carried by the handlebars.
By exerting a slight traction on the rope, as shown in (n. 2 Instructions for use) of the figure, the movement of the apparatus is obtained.
The internal pulley carries an axis on which a pedal is fixed which can be seen.
The cyclist rests his feet on it, and since the legs are articulated, the toy offers the funny image of a cyclist maneuvering the pedals.
The aerial unicycle is at the same address as the spider and the fly.

Piet Gutter born in 1944 is a Dutch artist who has been fascinated by the realistic painting style for many years.
In his works he pays a lot of attention to the composition of the figures and objects he paints.
He uses many different objects including antique toys, letters, leaflets, cans with advertising, fruits, vegetables on them and many more objects and all wrapped up in a fantastic composition.
He also pays a lot of attention to details, the atmosphere, the colors used and the backgrounds used so that it becomes a fascinating composition.

When you see his still lifes you are fascinated because it evokes emotions and you unintentionally fall in love with his works, but see for yourself.
Piet Gutter is a versatile painter, many of his works can be admired on the internet and you can also see that he can compose unique works using various utensils.

Piet Gutter’s paintings are in various collections and with private and foreign private individuals.

Some of the Piet Gutter works are based on antique toys from the collection of Arthur Verdoorn (1935 – 2017).
Arthur was an avid collector and also co-writer / photographer of the book: Fernand Martin Toymaker in Paris.
His toy collection can be seen in the toy museum in Soltau in Germany. https://www.spielmuseum-soltau.de/
Here I present a number of Piet Gutter works of art, especially the paintings where the toys of Fernand Martin and Victor Bonnet are depicted “lifelike”.

Piet Gutter did not only portray Martin or Victor Bonnet toys.
He has made many more paintings with antique toys as objects.
Paintings with toys of the well-known toy maker names such as Lehmann, Bing, Günthermann, Märklin, Schuco, Vielmetter and many more.

Martin toys have often been the subject of painters of art.
Below are the links to my three previous articles about Martin toys used in art:

All images courtesy of Piet Gutter

Part 1: Martin toy used in art.

Part 2: Martin toys used in art.

Part 3: Martin toys used in art

A short but beautiful movie from about 1915 with in the first part toys from Roullet & Decamps and in the second part many Martin toys from the Flersheim period. This video was sent to me by a loyal reader of my blog from Russia.

Film from the collection and courtesy of the Eye Film museum (Amsterdam) – https://www.eyefilm.nl/en

Bits & Pieces Nr. 199

enjoy the film

After Victor Bonnet took over the toy company from Flersheim in 1919, he makes, among other toys this “Camion” (no. 261), it is the last truck from the series Les-Auto-Transports.

This series consists of the following vehicles:
246 Le Déverseur
248 Tracteur + 250 Le Remorque (sold together)
249 Camion : Le Roulant
254 Le Train Tortillard
261 Camion : Gros Camionnage
A separate blog has been made about these vehicles for each issue

This is the last article in this series.

It is an open truck with a fabric tarpaulin and the length is about 25 cm (10 Inches)

A text was printed on both sides of the fabric tarpaulin, the text is original: “Gros Camionnage” that you can find on the box, there are models with another name but more about these (different) names on the sides of the fabric tarpaulin in another blog. (See link below)

I have come across this truck in the colors BLEU, RED and YELLOW, the hood in the colors GREEN, BLEU, BROWN and GREY

This truck was a modified version of truck number 249 with the same name Camion, (see one of my previous blogs).

In the base it is the truck “Les Auto Transport” with number 249.
The differences between number 249 and 261 are:
-The “brand” stamp on the bottom of the cargo area of the 249 has disappeared.
-The 261 get a fabric tarpaulin with the name “Gros Camionnage” on it.
-It gets a new product number 261.

Versions of this truck are known with various advertising texts, I have described the advertising texts on the side about this truck in another blog, see this link:

https://fernandmartintoys.nl/advertising-on-the-side-of-the-gros-camionnage-261-victor-bonnet/

a free translation of the article from the magazin: LE PETIT JOURNAL from January 1 1914

NEW YEAR’S DAY TOYS are the cheerfulness of the boulevards and the joy of Parisian children New Year’s Day is the occasion of official receptions and family celebrations, but what, especially in Paris, characterizes the New Year’s celebrations, is the animation that does not cease to reign on the boulevards, where the adjacent small market stalls that amaze the children and therefore many parents are interested.
This year, the number of these outdoor shops has fallen slightly due to the regulation banning so-called “spinner” lotteries.
We know that the same regulation also suppressed open-air markets, known as “flea markets”, which were held in different neighborhoods, notably in Les Halles around January 1.
On the other hand, the crowds on the boulevards this year are even bigger than the previous ones.
Perhaps this rise can be attributed to the disappearance of the huts and fairground attractions in the peripheral districts and the outer avenues where the festival boulevard de Belleville continues.

From the Madeleine to the Bastille, the small industrialists offer their passers-by real wonders of ingenuity, and you could say ‘in spirit, in innovation, and the eyes never tire of admiration. It is thanks to competitions they have encountered from various quarters and official encouragement for their personal initiative that toy manufacturers have been able to make progress in their industry, allowing them to present toys to the public that are, as they say, scientific because they are step to follow modern developments.

We were able to judge ourselves by taking advantage of the beautiful dry weather yesterday and. cold, which the previous days had certainly not foreseen, to take a walk on the boulevards.
And, like children, we had a brief review of the Toy of the Year, “Parisian Items” that are universally known.
The first thing that strikes us is not the least amusing, it is a barber with a very thick coat who shampoos a brave man of Bartholomew who could rival the crime with the best polished parquet in our museums.
This toy is called, as it should be, the “Barber of Seville”.(MARTIN NUMBER 196- L’ARTISTE CAPILLAIRE) –
The grimaces of the client being rubbed are nothing compared to those of a chimpanzee who, on an elastic rope, like the monkey in the fable, dances and moves at best, then flips.
This “four-handed” is more convenient but no more graceful than a red bear, its neighbor, elegantly dancing a tango.
What still attracts attention is a boxing match in which the champions perform the most daring and perhaps the most forbidden punches in the ring. “Sports are moreover worthily represented; Billiards, where the player makes an admirable pileup at each stroke; the shooting of a Mexican hunter”
Finally, skating performed by a skating enthusiast whose roller skates are a masterpiece of precision. (MARTIN NUMBER 229 LE PETIT PATINEUR) –

The latter, reproduced in one of our photos, is a great success.
But the pinnacle of sports toys is “Looping the loop”.
This toy consists of an evolved monoplane held in place by a wire and “walk the loop” on three occasions with an ease admirably reminiscent of Adolphe Pégoud’s prowess. (Adolphe Pégoud. This 24-year-old Frenchman had given aviation a new dimension: that of aerobatics.)

Walkers talk about this toy, just as they talk about the little washing-up girl (MARTIN NUMBER 233 – LA CASSEUSE D’ASSIETTES) who takes three steps and then drops her plates with an awkwardness as funny as Baggessen’s. (Baggessen is a comedian whose hilarious jokes spontaneously make you laugh)
It would take too long to list all the new toys, let’s just mention other toppers: the jockey who brings back the Mona Lisa (MARTIN NUMBER 225 VOLEUR DE LA JOCONDE), on a mountain the duelists, the violinist (FERNAND MARTIN NUMBER 160 LE GAI VIOLONIST) and the pianist (FERNAND MARTIN NUMBER 189 LE PETIT PIANISTE), two funny little toys that we also recognized.

Finally, the “Triple Entente”, (agreement on the alliance formed in 1907 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Third French Republic and the Empire of Russia after the signing of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg.)
A patriotic toy , representing France and Russia and greeting England. In addition to these trendy toys, there are other, but less numerous, toys from yesteryear
Here and there we have encounters with externally pleasing adults, for whom these evoke memories of their childhood and certain children who do not seem to long for others. It gave us the opportunity to witness a scene that was moving in its simplicity: a girl of about six years old, who was with a relative who, on the boulevards, refused all the beautiful gifts they offered her. – No not that! neither! She said repeatedly. – What do you want?
The child did not answer.
Suddenly, she rushed to a small merchant whose sales stand was installed on a basket. – That is what I want ! she said.
This merchant sold simple little classic dolls for thirteen cents, dolls despised by certain little girls, perhaps influenced by their young brothers, but dolls with a quality that proves that these dolls still have lovers.

And there are, thank goodness! numerous enough to keep trade prosperous.
And yet, the fact is, the “doll” no longer reigns indisputably in the stalls of the small barracks of the boulevards.
A trade that has nothing to do with the entertainment of childhood, and which is already prosperous, because it conquered the right of the city among the Parisians thanks to the “prefect of the police”, is that of point protectors intended for hat pins.
One of the small stands where they are sold, decorated with a sign in large letters, is under siege by many women and girls.
A little further on we pass a saleswoman who stands by shelves full of beautiful “New Year’s Eve” books, books with scarlet covers and gilded edges.
We ask him if the sale is going well. – No, she said to us, the time has passed when as a child I even helped my dad who ran all this small booth and we struggled to satisfy the enthusiastic customers.
But today’s kids, once they leave the cradle, only dream of sports.
It is the active life, they say, the modern life that wants that. We have to bow to this.
And with regrets about the past, the trader tells us an anecdote from that past.

About fifteen years ago, a child eagerly looking at the promising display was noticed by a man who invited him to choose a book he liked and gave him this book as a present.
The donor left, but after some hesitation, the child decided to sell the book back to the stand keeper.
This woman was outraged and blamed the child for his trading instincts.
The child then bursts into tears and admits that in the midst of his joy at having a wonderful educational book, he had thought of his sick mother, bedridden in a room without a stove.
And the child – so had tried – to cash in on his gift to buy medicine for his mother. – And there you have it, the merchant concludes philosophically, this is how books not only shape the minds, but also the hearts of children!

The company Louis Vuitton has made an advertising campaign for their bags and suitcases in 1994.
In this campaign use was made of tin toys combined with a bag or suitcase.
Several different advertisements have been released
The advertisements were placed in the American Voque, but there is also a luxury box/portfolio on the market with all the different advertisements including slides
In one of these advertisements a Martin Petit Livreur was used.

Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Fröhliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année
Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo
Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo
Kala Christougenna Ki’eftihismenos O Kenourios Chronos
God Jul och Gott Nytt År
Glædelig Jul og godt nytår
Geseende Kerfees en ’n gelukkige nuwe jaar
Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta

This article was published in the Antique Toy World November 2021

I’m trying to figure out the correct numbering of the first period of the Fernand Martin toys, that is de period from the first toy “Le Poisson Nageur” (the Fish) till number 146, the second period started with the number 147 the Ma Portiére.

The periods have been chosen in previously published books and articles by well-known authors, because every Martin collector knows this period classification, I will also continue with this period classification.
Martin himself never made a period classification.

In this article there will be a lot of “question marks” – “maybe” – “presumably” and “not sure” but therefore the question: WHO CAN HELP.

I have searched in old catalogs and have already found a lot of good product/article numbers, even on an old box we found a number.
What have I already found out?

Martin started with the number 100, his first produced toy the “Le Poisson Nageur” (The Fish).
The second period has started with number 147 Ma Portiére
So logically there must be 47 pieces in between.
But many more pieces are known from the first period, how is this possible?

Just an observation:
Between number 100, the first number of the first period and number 146 the last number of the first period are 47 numbers.
There are currently about 66 toys (there are a few toys of which we are not 100% sure that they are attributed to Martin)
We see that we have more toys then numbers, so some toys never had a number. Why????
From 32 toys I have found, till now, the right number.
There are 15 numbers left (101 – 104 – 112 – 113 – 122 – 126 – 128 – 138 – 140 – 141 – 142 – 143 – 144 – 145 – 146) whose toy name we havened find till now, we can attribute some of these 15 numbers with some certainty, but we are not 100% sure about that yet.

IN THE NEXT LIST ARE THE TOY NAMES WITH, IF KNOWN, THE CORRECT NUMBERS ALREADY FOUND.

Why some toys, especially in its early years, are NOT numbered is a mystery and we will probably never find the reason.

100 Le poisson nageur

La balançoire mécanique
Le bateau godilleur
la grenouille
Le Pantin mecanique
Les forgerons infantigables
Le moulin mécanique a tic tac
La locomotive routiere
Le cheval a bascule
Le jeu de massacre
Le jeu de force
Le bouquet surprise
Le velocipede

Le trapèze
Les Valseurs (with the tall hat)
Les valseurs (with a cap)
102 Le sonneur endiable
103 Les courageux scieurs de long
104 (no proof yet) L’incomparable danseuse de corde

105 Les pompiers
106 Les joyeux danseurs
107 Les fameux duellistes
108 Le livreur
109 L’autruche

110 Le cab
111 La grosse caisse (automatique)
La grosse caisse annamite (walking) model: World Fair in 1889 Paris
Pousse pousse annamite model: World Fair in 1889 Paris
Le fauteuil roulant model: World Fair in 1889 Paris
L’écrevisse
Don quichotte
La sateuse de corde
114 Le lapin vivant

115 Les boxeurs
116 Le traîneau russe
117 Le diable en boite
118 Le cherif
119 La charrette anglaise
120 Le pêcheur â la linge
121 La bicyclette martin

122 (no proof yet) Le courrier parisien
123 Le facteur de chemin de fer (with flywheel )
124 Le facteur de chemin de fer ( with mechanisme )
125 La chaloupe a vapeur
126 (no proof yet) Le perroquet (on a stand)
127 La perruche
128 (no proof yet) Le piocheur
129 Course de taureau
130 Attelage flamend

Sujets Sur Socles avec Mécaniques en boites par pièce (sold per piece):
131 Mènagerie
132 Bergerie
133 Chasse
134 Gardeuse d’oies
135 Laitière
136 Porcher
137 Laboureur

Sujets Sur Socles sans Mécaniques (same articles as 131 till 136 but without mechanism and sold in boxes by a half dozen)
I suspect that the numbering is as follows, assuming the same order as numbers 131 to 137, but I am not 100% sure about this yet, only number 139 is certain.
138 (no proof yet) Ménagerie
139 Bergerie
140 (no proof yet) Chasse
141 (no proof yet) Gardeuse d’oies
142 (no proof yet) Laitiére
143 (no proof yet) Porcher

All the above-mentioned toys are known by images in catalogs, on boxes and / or by the presence of the toy in the museum: Musée des arts et métiers, Le CNAM in Paris. Fernand Martin made a donation in 1908 to this museum, of this donation, a handwritten list made by Martin is known including all names of the toys in that donation, this list is in the possession of the museum Musée des arts et métiers, Le CNAM in Paris

We can assume with a certain degree of certainty for which toys the numbers are 104 – 122 – 126 -128 – 138 – 140 – 141 – 142 and 143, but we are still looking for the 100% proof for these numbers.
So we are also looking for the following 6 missing numbers: 101 – 112 – 113 – 144 – 145 – 146.

Who can help me ????
Please contact me if you can help cor@vanschaijk.com

I found an article in an old French technical magazine La Nature from 1897 about a tin toy made by Martin.
This special piece is put in motion when the fly is hanging on a hook on the wall and then by stretching the cord, the spider is crawling to the fly.
It was first made in 1896
length approx 11cm (4,33 inch)
Martin article number is 151

A free translation of the above text.
SMALL INVENTIONS
The Spider and the Fly.
The spider has a habit of stretching webs and rushing for flies or other insects that fall in its nets.
The toy that we describe is intended to recall these mores of the spider.
We see in no 1 of the figure a fly that is fixed by a hook against the wall.
Below is a spider.
It suffices to pull a string, and one immediately sees it climbing slowly, alternately moving its two long, very characteristic legs.
Apart from the interest that this toy has.
He is curious from a mechanical point of view.
We see in no 2 the underside of the beast with the internal mechanism.
A cord is fixed at the top right on the spider and then comes to be routed on a small pulley placed inside the fly.
This cord is then wound on another pulley attached to the lower part of the spider.
By pulling on the cord, the spider is thus given a movement, the fly being fixed against the wall.
The pulley in the spider has a metal rod fixed on the periphery, as shown in our drawing. This metal rod is also movebel around a fixed point and can move successively to the right and to the left according to the movements of the pulley.
It carries at its other end the horizontal rod which maintains the legs of the spider and it thus transmits to them the movement of which we spoke above.
This toy is found at M. P. Bertrand, 19, rue Mute-ville, in Paris.

Here is part 4 of the Victor Bonnet Les Auto Transports series consisting of the :
246 Le Deverseur
248 Tracteur + 250 Le Remorque (sold together)
249 Truck : Le Roulant
254 Le Train Tortillard
261 Camion : Gros Camionnage

This tractor with four trailers has a total length of approximately 69 cm / 27,2 “.
On the accompanying photos you can see the differences between the four trailers.
The first trailer has a different, tin plate attachment than the other cars, which all have a bent iron wire as attachment.

The operating options are:
Winding up mechanism… with the key to the right.
Starting… Push forward the Crank which is to the left of the driver.
Stop… Bring the Crank to the rear which is to the left of the driver.
Direction … With the Joystick located at the front of the Hood, choose one of the 3 notches for driving straight ahead or the other two positions for driving in a large or smaller circle.

I found till now the tractor in two colors in red and green, the trailers I found in the colors blue, green, brown/orange, gray and dark-gray.

I have come across it quite often and sometimes even “mint” in the box but what strikes me is that very often the carts are not all the same color, maybe the carts have gotten mixed up over the years or they are just new delivered in the box with different color carts.

In my Blog articles, I sometimes refer to the book: Fernand Martin Toymaker in Paris.

As a result of my Blog, I now receive questions by mail from collectors who do not yet know the new book about Martin and ask if it is still for sale.
The book is printed in a limited edition but still for sale.
It is published in two versions, one in English and one in French.
For a clear description including an animation, go to the site:
https://www.fernandmartintoys.com/
On this site you will find also an order form.

In my opinion, every collector, tintoy enthusiast, tintoy dealer, auctioneer and museum must have a copy.
This work is a standard work and certainly new discoveries will come in the future that may reflect the current knowledge

I can personally highly recommend this book.
I was fortunate to be able to participate in this book and I have been able to know both writers / collectors / photographers Lourens Bas and Arthur Verdoorn as fine and enormous lovers of the Martin toys in the broadest sense.
The book is quite substantial and very well executed with clear pictures.
It is subdivided into 4 blocks / periods.
The first period is from 1878 to 1894.
Second period goes from 1895 until the acquisition by George Flersheim in 1912.
The third period is therefore the Flersheim period from 1912 to 1919, after which the last period comes from the new owner Victor Bonnet from 1919 until the move of the factory in 1934 to the Rue des Tourelles in Paris.

The majority of the toys, as was known until the printing of this book, are depicted.
In the meantime, some new discoveries and insights have been found that cannot be found in the book.
But that makes sense, not everything is now known because a lot has been lost, documents have been destroyed or have been forgotten somewhere in the attic or in a forgotten archive, these may one day give new insights and belong to a new edition.
Until that time; this is the best book and given the execution, for a very low price, it is a bargain!

But in this blog I keep everyone informed as best as possible about new discoveries, things worth knowing, discussions etc. so that nobody has to miss anything, it is therefore important to visit my blog regularly, so you stay informed.

This model is very very rare.
I’ve only come across a few of them.

The colors I have found so far are green, orange, yellow all with red wheels and a dark blue one with bleu wheels, the length is about 25 cm (10 Inches)

It is listed in the Victor Bonnet catalog with the name Camion 249 but in the truck you can see that the name is : Le Roulant

The characteristic of this model is that there is a print on the bottom of the cargo area with the name and product number.

A similar model was later released with number 261 with the same name Camion to, but on that truck you can see the name Gros Camionnage written on the fabric tarpaulin.
This Camion is an adapted form of the here presented: Le Roulant, that later model got a fabric tarpaulin, no longer had a print on the bottom of the luggage compartment, and no text plate on the back of the cabin.
This model 261 will be found even more, but more about this truck in another blog.

A model 261 Gros Camionnage without the fabric tarpaulin is sometimes be sold as a: Le Roulant, but can therefore be easily recognized by a print on the bottom of the cargo area and on the back of the cabin a brass text plate with the text: Charge maximum load 5000 Kos of the original Le Roulant, so pay attention.

I found an article in an old French technical magazine La Nature from 1895 about a tin toy made by Martin.
This piece is put in motion when a string is wound around this reel, and pulling forcefully, the rotation of the axle and the wheel is determined.
When the car is placed on the floor, it travels at high speed, and the dog’s legs.
It was first made in 1894
length approx 18 cm (7.1 inch)
The Martin article number is 130

The free translation of the text from the article from the magazine La Nature 1895 :
SMALL INVENTIONS
The dog car. –
We have often described the small mechanized toys that the street vendors sell in the streets of Paris, and, in Les Petites Inventions of n ° 1117 of last October 27, we gave the Combat de taureaux.
Today it is the dog car that we will introduce.
Represented below, it gives the appearance of an Antwerp (Belgium) milkmaid with a cart.
A metal axle crosses the little tin car, and ends on the outside with a coil protruding from the wheel with the surface of which it is in contact; a string is wound around this reel, and pulling forcefully, the rotation of the axle and the wheel is determined.
The car is placed on the floor, it travels at high speed, and the dog’s legs, set in motion by a simple mechanism, perform the galloping movement admirably.
There is a lot of ingenuity in his little Parisian mechanical toys.
The dog car is built by Mr. Fernand Martin, 88, Menilmontant Boulevard in Paris

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s these milkmaids with their dog carts were frequently seen, they were in the version with one, two and even three dogs.

All postcards are from my own collection

These two Victor Bonnet creations of a tractor and a trailer, were sold together in one box, I have not found any proof anywhere that they were sold separately.

I have come across the tractor in two colors so far, in green and in red, (green and red in various color gradations from dark to light, but presumably the influence of sunlight has also had an influence on the color), I am the trailer only encountered in a brown/yellow color with a green fabric tarpaulin.

What has been noticed is that there are two versions of the tractor, with and without a roof.
Presumably it was marketed in two versions with and without a roof, which is apparent from the fact that the tractor can be found with and without mounting holes for the roof, (see the photos).

Look at the two different trailers, sometimes the trailer has a bronze plate on the back with the text: Charge maximum 5000Kos and the back and front of the trailer has different plating, version with a 6 and with a 4 rectangular layout

This figure was released in 1890 and no product number is known
It is a very ingenious mechanism to create the illusion that she is a Rope-jumping girl.

Here the translation from the French tekst on page 223 from the magazine La Nature 1890 :

SCIENTIFIC TOY the ROPE JUMPER
Here is a toy that we think we will have to present to our readers because of the special skill of the inventors in overcoming the difficulties presented by the problems they had posed.
This toy is a jumper rope whose figure is almost enough to understand the mechanism.
As in most toys of this kind, the amount of work required to operate the toy is borrowed from the vivid power of a steering wheel concealed in the young person’s body, flying at which a high angular velocity is imparted. rolling two turns of string on the button shown at the bottom of the skirt in the figure on the left, and pulling strongly on this string which one lets slip the other end between a finger and the body of the toy, to ensure a tension initial requirement for driving the steering wheel.
The flywheel thus launched friction control two pairs of wheels that come to lean on its axis.
The first pair of wheels, the pair of wheels, infers the toy, whose equilibrium forwards and backwards is ensured by a pair of small gatets.
One of these pebbles can be seen, the one before, in the figure on the right.
The second pair of wheels, placed at the top, has the effect of printing a rotational movement about a horizontal axis to a small tree at the ends of which are fixed the ends of the rope.
This rope, very flexible and very thin, flattens each time it passes in front of the driving wheels that roll over it without their movement being the least bit entangled.
This was the great practical difficulty cleverly solved by Mr. Martin, the inventor and constructor of this interesting and ingenious little apparatus.

This toy is not very big, it has a total height of approximately 15cm / 6 inch
It is hand painted, like the most toys in that period.

During my collection years, I only came across this toy in five different color versions.

• dress in yellow with the details in red
• dress in blue with the details in red
• dress in green with the details in red
• dress in red with the details in blue
• dress in light blue with the details in gold-colored

This light blue with the details in gold-colored was included in the gift that was donated through Fernand Martin in 1908 to the Musée des arts and Métiers in Paris (see my earlier blog :Two Fernand Martin variants of the Pousse-Pousse Annamite )

It is marked on the bottom, see photo above.
I think this is one of the nicest pieces from the first period of Fernand Martin.
Nice action and a very ingenious design.
It is only rarely offered so very rare.

Which collector does not know it, a toy with a defect, damage, missing parts or other shortcomings.
Here’s a newsletter from a restorer from Ireland who specializes in tin toys but also dolls.
The intention is that this newsletter will be published once every two months.
Interested ?? contact him.

It’s a overvieuw from the 5 pages so the links don’t work. Would you like to receive this newsletter yourself? contact him on +353 (0) 876774202 or email him at bob.heaton@pentdata.ie.

Victor Bonnet was the first successor to Fernand Martin who started producing cars
He released a series of trucks named: Les Auto Transports that started with number 246
It was a “tip up truck”, the truck has an automatic tipping and driving mechanism.

This model was released in various colors, I have seen models in Yellow, green, gray, black and brown
The length is about 20 cm (7.9 Inches)

These models have a very advanced and ingenious engine, the start-stop part sits like a handle next to the driver’s steering wheel.
After winding, you can put the car on the ground and twist the lever, then it will drive, after a short time, the car will stop and the bucket will slowly move to the side to drop its load, and then the bucket will go back to the old position and the car starts moving again and everything repeats itself.

In the production years, the box has been changed a few times.
The first boxes only contain the production number No 246
Boxes are known to have a sticker added with the text Déverseur No 246
Later the label came with the text Déverseur No 246 printed as fixed on the label
And I found boxes with the text Le Déverseur No 246

The next two boxes has the same picture of the catalog site on the front, these catalog pictures usually had less information than the original box labels, are they original??
I’ve come across some of those boxes before.

On the inside on the bottom of the box an extra text sheet could have been applied to indicate the operation, this is found in two languages; in French and in English.
The text on the outside of the box is only found in French, also on the boxes with an English text sheet inside.

There are boxes contained with no text sheet inside but a separate manual with the (freely translated) text:
AUTO-LE DÉVERSEUR
OPERATION :
Reassembly… Put the Engine to Stop and turn; with the key to the right, making 10 half-turns.
Starting… Push forward the Crank which is to the left of the driver.
Stop… Bring the Crank to the rear which is to the left of the driver.
Direction … Bring, by pressure from top to bottom, the Joystick located at the front of the Hood, in one of the 3 notches. The walk in a circle is obtained by using the 2 notches on the left.

There are models without a text, models with a text on the side or back and models with a text in the inside of the loadig area, and when they have a text it was in French or in English
The various texts I found till now are:

The body has also been available in two variants, with an angular body and with a rounder body, the truck with the rounder body (I found them in de colors gray, black/gray and yellow), and has no texts on the body, only the brass plate on the bonnet.

From this version with the rounder body, I found one with a different nose/bonnet in the color: red body with a bleu loading area. This one has the nose/bonnet from trucks from the production after 1933 and on top of this nose/bonnet there is no longer the well-known brass nameplate.

So you can see that over the years this truck has had many different varieties.
Many Fernand Martin, George Flersheim and Victor Bonnet toys have sometimes been produced for many many years and have received many small adjustments or other colors over the years.

As a successor of Fernand Martin and George Flersheim, Victor Bonnet Factory started the production in 1919 in the old Fernand Martin factory, in 1933 they stopped the production and moved to another building in Paris.

In these 14 years Victor Bonnet has made a series of 5 beautiful trucks and tractors.  

246 Le Déverseur
248 Tracteur + 250 Le Remorque (sold together)
249 Camion : Le Roulant
254 Le Train Tortillard
261 Camion : Gros Camionnage

He named this series of vehicles: Les-Auto-Transports and the first toy he produced in 1919 was the truck: Le Déverseur with number 246

All models had a plaque on the hood with the name: Les auto-transports
This plaque has undergone some changes over the years as can be seen in the collage.

These models are somewhat undervalued, they are all vehicles with a genius mechanism and these mechanisms are all basically the same. 

The first of the model Le Déverseur with number 246 produced from 1919 had the most extensive mechanism with lot of functions: start-stop, drive, standstill and a side-tilt function. The models after this one were a bit simpler.  

In the coming weeks I will be introducing this series of vehicles one by one in 5 separate blogs.

I already published this before in 2019, but I find a new one and new information.

Martin has produced two tops in his very early years.
The French name is Les Valseurs and first made in 1885 and it get Fernand Martin number 15

Patent:

Martin has applied for a French patent for the dancing couple with the man with the cap under number 169754. (see patent sheet above)
But for these two different models are different patent number found on each box, the one with the top hat has patent number 56947.
I can’t put it in the French, English and American patent number ranges at that time, but it is probably a German patent from about 1890/91.
In Germany the patent ranges between 56000 and 57000 were active around 1890/91. (see in the German DPMAregister ) Maybe Martin did not get this patent number approved because this number is not listed as “granted”.
For pictures of the two boxes, see the book Fernand Martin Toymaker in Paris on page 45.
The English company Britain also launched the same type of top around the same time and applied for a patent with number 13671 in England in 1884. ( I found the patent number and year in a official paper of a trail beween Britain versus Hirsch in March 1888. A part of the text : “ In 1884 a patent No. 13,671 of 1884, was granted to William Britain for an automatic dancing figure.”) source: www.academic.oup.com page 226 REPORTS OF PATENT, DESIGN, May 05 1888.
These tops have been made more often, it could be without justifying the patents, or by paying the patent holder or even by plagiarizing
Furthermore, you had to apply for a patent in every country before 1900, but that was not done because the costs were sometimes quite high.
The entire patent event at the end of the 19th century was not as well regulated as it is today.

There are more of this kind of tops:

I’ve discovered, till now, nine different of these waltzing spinning tops so far, but maybe there are more, here an overview of the tops that I found till today:

• –Fernand Martin, two pieces marked on the bar between the legs with FM Paris, the one with the cap is from 1885 the other one with the high hat is probably from 1890 and is extra marked on the other side off the bar with the patent (Breveté) number: SGDG 56947.
  -One unknown and unmarked maker of made with partial tinplate, this one is probably from Germany.
  -The United States company Ives made one exemple, this one looks a lot like one of the Martins but is unmarked.
  -Two pieces by G. Heyde ( provenance the book of Lourens Bas: The Lost Art of Spinning Tops) from Dresden Germany, presumably around 1885 one ( with the red skirt and the both figures with a hat ) is marked on the bar between the legs with G.H. (George Heyde), the other one with the orange skirt I don’t know if that one is marked.
  -The English Britains one piece from about 1885, not marked and made in different colors.
  -And another unknown and unmarked maker which is made from cast iron so presumably from the United States.
  -And another new find that was made in the USA, of hoop skirt embossed lettering “C.H. Husted,” sold in the Bertoia auction on September 11-2021 (photo courtesy Bertoia Auctions)

Breveté S.G.D.G.

Breveté S.G.D.G. is the name of a patent as it was in France until 1968.
The term stands for “Breveté Sans Guarantee of Government” and means: “Patent without government guarantee”.
Many countries adhered to a system of registration for a simple formal exam over many years.
One believed himself free from any liability.
In France, the Law of 1844 provides that the patents shall be issued “without prior examination, at the risk and risk of claimants and without guarantee of function, novelty and merit of the invention, also with regard to precision or accuracy of description”.

Working:

The principle is the same for all spinning tops.

In the middle of the female, just above the skirt, is a small rod, you put a loop of a string around it and then turn the skirt around by hand so that the string wraps around the waist.
The female stand not completely upright but that is the intention.
The female stands on a kind of pin under the feet, this is loose and therefore it can turn completely.

By placing the dance couple on the floor and then pulling the string tightly, the skirt starts turning quickly,
Because of the center-flying power, the female stands up and the male turns around the female.
These toy tops are around 130/140 years old and very rare to find, but they are so beautiful.
These tops are not only wanted and sought after by “Martin” collectors but also by spinning top collectors.

I found an article in an old French technical magazine La Nature from 1895 about a tin toy made by Martin.
This piece is put in motion with the well-known Martin “rubber band” method, when the rubber band is woud up the bull and the toreador, describing a circle of which the support rod is the center, the bull jumps a small stub in the air 8 times each round.
It was first made in 1894
length approx 22,8 cm (9 inch)
The Martin article number is 129

A free translation of the text above
The bullfighting game.
It is one of the new tin toys sold on the boulevards of Paris.
It is very timely and offers to the eyes of the passer-by a toreador waving a scarf in front of an angry bull.
The toreador runs away, and the bull follows him, throwing his horns.
Here is the explanation of the toy: the man and the bull are connected to a metal rod; the two rods thus serving as support are fixed to a vertical axis placed in the center of a hollow metal piece which imitates a rock.
Inside this rock is the “rubber band” twist motor generally employed for these kinds of animated figure toys.
The bull and the toreador, when the spring is stretched, turn describing a circle of which the support rod is the center.
This toy is built by Mr. Fernand Martin, 88, Menilmontant Boulevard, in Paris.

A small inventor/toymaker Foucault, presented a toy at Le Concours LEPINE in 1901 a toy called “Mr. Chopinard”.

As you can see is this toy the adaptation of Fernand Martin’s “Le Pochard” mounted on a barrel.
Which shows that the recycling of existing toys was easily doable even by outsiders of the company…
If one would find now an model of this Chopinard toy, would it be called a Foucault or a Martin toy?
Most certainly Martin…

Le Pochard on a wine barrel, the picture above is part of a larger image with more toys and technical attributes and found in an old French magazine La Nature from 1902 page 13 with the name: Monsieur Chopinard (a comic French gentleman who appears in a chanson from that time.) This article was about the Concours de Jouets 1901.

Martin probably sold parts and also (almost) complete models to small toy makers / inventors who then made “new” models and produced it in small numbers or offered the production rights for sale at the Lepine competition to the major manufacturers because they themselves had no or little production capacity and no money to produce these toys on a large scale, these were hard times for the little toy makers / inventors.

An extra function has been added to print or save articles.
Two options to print or save an article:
1) You can click on the titel of that article.
2) If you click on an article in the column: Most recent messages, you will see the word (Print) on the right of the text in your chosen article, click on this (Print) button and you have the choice of printing or download as PDF.

Note: If you don’t see the column Most recent messages, then turn your device into landscape.

I found an article in an old French technical magazine La Nature from 1894 about a tin parrot made by Martin.
This one is very rare and I do not have any photos of it myself, but there are pictures in the book by Francois Marchand THE HISTORY OF MARTIN MECHANICAL TOYS on page 87 and in the book by Lourens Bas FERNAND MARTIN TOYMAKER IN PARIS on page 66.
Since the original images presumably carry copyrights, I cannot show them here.
This special piece is put in motion by the well-known Martin “rubber band” method, the winding is done by the winding handle at the end of his tail, under the tail is the “rubber band” that goes to the movement mechanism in the body.
It was first made in 1893
length approx 28/30cm ( 11/12 inch)

A FREE TRANSLATION:
The toy that we represent below was one of the successes of the New Year’s shops on the boulevards of Paris.
The parrot in question is mute, silent, it does not cry out and does not tire by its chatter.
On the other hand, he does mimicry, pantomime; proudly encamped on his perch, he swings and greets as much gracefully as possible.
This parrot is one of those mechanical toys whose movement is caused by the reinsertion of a cable or assembly of rubber threads twisted by means of a small crank.
The transmitted motion shifts the parrot’s center of gravity and gives it the swaying motion. –
This toy is available at Mr. A. Wolter, 9 bis, passage Kuszner, in Paris.

This is an update of the article that was posted on February 8, 2021

After Victor Bonnet took over the toy company from Flersheim in 1919, he makes, among other toys this “Camion” (no. 261).  

This is an open truck from the “Les Auto-Transports” series.

This truck was sold with text on the fabric tarpaulin on both sides.

The text is original: “Gros Camionnage” that you can find on the box.

In the past time I found so now and then a model with different text.

In 2021 I found in an “Interencheres” auction in France of Maître Philippe CASAL another “Camion” model in a rare color scheme, and also with a different text “Chocolat Casino” on the fabric tarpaulin.

In February 2018 I found on Ebay another model, the nice thing about this Camion was not only the beautiful condition, but also the print on the hood: “Goulet-Turpin”.  
The Internet teaches us that this is the name of the Goulet-Turpin couple who founded a distribution company under this name in their wedding year 1874.

In the collection of the German “Spielmuseum Soltau” is another one to find with the text “Nouvelles Galeries”.

On Wikipedia you can find: “Les Nouvelles Galeries” is the name of a chain of department stores created in 1897, the stores have changed to become Galeries Lafayette.

In total, I have now found four “Camions”with different prints, including the original.  

With one different overprint I can imagine that someone has done this privately, for whatever reason, but with several new different overprints I can imagine that this was originally produced by the Victor Bonnet factory and I have already found more “Camions” with these above shown texts, so they are not isolated objects.

The companies that orders these “Camions” may have sold these models or given them away to there customers.

Maybe we can find more examples.

I found an article in an old French technical magazine La Nature from 1894 about the railway porter made by Martin.
This toy is made in two different versions, a version with the flywheel and a second version with a key wind mechanism both with simulated walking motion.
It was first made in 1894
The length is about 12,7 cm ( 5 inch) long
The Martin production number is 123 for the version with the flywheel and number 124 for the version with the key wind mechanism, see on the catalog page in the left below corner.

A free translation from the text above for the model with the key wind mechanism.
The railway postman. –
Here is a charming tin toy, equipped with an ingenious mechanism.
It represents one of the wheelbarrows used by railway letter carriers; under the wheelbarrow is placed the motor mechanism in the form of a spring that is tensioned by torsion by means of a key visible in our figure.
The mounted spring actuates the pair of toothed wheels.
The man who pushes the car has legs fixed on an axis and which are connected to each other by another bent ace which forces one leg to move back as the other leg advances.
When the device is driven by the motor movement, the postman seems to be pushing the car, and his movements surprisingly imitate nature. –
This toy is built by Mr. Fernand Martin, 88, boulevard Menilmontant, In Paris.

Original hand written postcard with date stamp by Fernand Martin

“Le Courrier de la Presse” was founded in 1889.
In competition with Argus de la Presse, the employees of “Le Courrier de la Presse” searched all periodicals as reviews and newspapers and provided subscribers with press clippings that mentioned the name and/or the interests of the specific customer.
It was a significant saving of time for the customers who didn’t have the time to search everything.

Martin was also a customer and naturally looking for articles about toys
But with the clippings service it could go wrong.
Martin wrote a complaint to that company because he missed articles.

LE COURRIER DE LA PRESSE
BUREAU de COUPURES de JOURNAUX
Founded in 1889 with Mr. Gallois as owner

The free translation is:
An error has crept into the articles that you have sent.
I have number 1401 and 1402 and furthermore the numbers 1416 and 1417.
But I have not received the 13 intervening numbers.
So please correct this on the following number that must be given 1405 *see note*
I am counting on you to do justice to my complaint.
Sincerely F. Martin.

Note: The number is hard to read, but on a site about old French manuscripts it is clearer that the number must be 1405. Martin already had number 1401 and 1402 and, according to my reasoning, he converted the other two numbers 1416 and 1417 to 1403 and 1404, so that is followed by 1405 etc.

Indeed, there are 13 intermediate numbers and not the correction of “14” later made by the receiver with a blue marker

I found an article in an old French technical magazine La Nature from 1894 about the Piocheur made by Martin.
This toy is made in two different versions, a version with the well-known Martin “rubber band” method, and a second version with a key wind mechanisme
It was first made in 1894
The length of both toys is different, the rubber band version is 13 cm ( 5,1 inch) long and the key wind version is 15,5 cm ( 6,1 inch) long

A FREE TRANSLATION:
The famous pickaxe.
We have described in La Nature several tin toys, so charming and so graceful, which makes Mr. Fernand Martin, one of our Parisian industrialists, so great.
When the manager of this establishment produces a new model, he does not forget to send it to us.
We recently received the famous pickaxe; he is a mechanical worker who digs with energy.
Like the toys which preceded, the movement of the picker is communicated by a simple mechanism, hidden in the base and activated by a rubber band, forming a spring by the torsion.
It suffices to turn the winder 10 or 15 times for the pick to work.
The pickaxe rises and falls with great rapidity.
Manufacturer: Mr. Fernand Martin, 90, boulevard Menilmontant, Paris.

Here an supplement on the posted article:

This article was published in the April 2020 issue of the ATW Antique Toy World magazine. https://antiquetoyworld.com/about-atw/

A thorough research by Francois Mesqui in inventory documents of FLERSHEIM’s manufacture indicates that it released a soldier toy referred to as “Homme de tranchée”. Only a genuine box / catalogue with a picture and article number will attest its paternity. Till now there is no certainty about the correct article number but it will probably have to be 242-243 or 244.

And in the study of the comparison with the head and helmet of “Le Pompier”, Francois Mesqui shows, with a photogrammetric program, an excellent match between the head of “Le Pompier” and “L’Homme des Tranchées” .

So it is a toy made in the Flersheim period with the name: Homme de tranchée.

The original published article:

Is this a new Fernand Martin toy ?!?!

Martin and Flersheim made toys that were mostly “up-to-date” at the time of manufacture, and by “up to date” I mean that literally.
At specific happenings, events, news, but also new fashion, inventions, etc. Martin and Flersheim were immediately able to make a toy for it so that the audience recognized and bought it.

Now I found an entirely unknown new Martin to me, it is a very nice soldier.
After I have examined it thoroughly, by comparing with other Martin toys, by measuring all parts precisely and checking with UV light for the age and deviations of the paint.
I have to come to the conclusion that I am almost sure that this is a original Martin from the Flersheim period.
But for 100% sure we need a catalog, document, advertising or box where it is shown.

First a short history of French soldier uniforms:

The 1758 Code Military includes descriptions of each French regimental uniform, including the Royal Artillery.
In addition to blue coats and red distinctions, the artillery had many subtle details on the coat and vests.

In 1914 they quickly discovered that during the WW1 war using the old model uniforms in the colors red and bleu the soldiers are sitting ducks.
These colors stood out too much against the clear sky above the Frensch fields.
They designed very fast a new blue / gray uniform, because that didn’t stand out against the clear bleu sky.
In the end of 1914 and the early 1915 they designed a completely new uniform in the color light gray / blue.
These soldiers were named: Le Poilus

Georges Flersheim was also Lieutenant artillery in this WW1 and was therefore at the center of the uniform change.
He must have implemented that quickly for a new model for a French soldier.

In the short “Flersheim” period, (1912 till 1919) they has released at least 20 new pieces.
(More about Georges Flersheim in one of my other blogs.)

Hypothesis:

1.
In the book: Fernand Martin Toymaker in Paris 1878 – 1912 on page 200, there are 3 soldiers.
The writers Lourens Bas and Arthur Verdoorn tells us on this page : Nevertheless we have to conclude that we don’t know the number of any of these toy soldiers, so that we are not sure about the order in which they are presented.
The left one is a French soldier with the number 243.
But the red and dark soldier on the photo is not a French soldier from 1915 but a French soldier with a uniform from used before 1915.
The colors blue / red are used from 1758 until in the first war months WW1 in 1914.
I think this red and blue soldier must be one of the numbers: 234 – 235 or 236, because this uniform was still in use in 1913.
The new find French soldier the “Le Poilu” must be then probably number 242-243 or 244 in the book: Fernand Martin Toymaker in Paris. 1878 – 1912

2.
It is quite possible that Georges Flersheim designed it, but he was unable to bring it into production because he died tragically on August 14, 1915 at the age of 30.
After his death, the factory continued to produce toys for at least a few years and maby produced this toy.
Because we were unable to find a box or document tille now, we do not know a name and possibly number (if it was already numbered)

Resume:
Perhaps there is a third option.
We do not know this and it remains to be seen whether this toy with box or a catalog with image will ever be found.
So if there are readers who know more, please send me a message.

Georges Flersheim also released many old Martin pieces, and what he did was alter old Martin pieces and produce them again.
He also made extensive use of the available old stock of “Martins” materials and clockworks.

One example is the Fireman with ladder, but what does this fireman have to do with the new soldier?
I want to explain this.

There are a total of 4 different firefighters in the following order:

1) First released by Fernand Martin in 1904 with the number 197.
2) Then Georges Flersheim reproduced the same model from Martin in 1912 with the number 197-bis.
3) But later Georges Flersheim modernized, between 1912 and 1915, the head with a different helmet model
4) Victor Bonnet reproduced the Flersheim fireman again in 1921

The differences are sometimes small.  

-1- FERNAND MARTIN : three-part ladder and a low back of the helmet and a clockwork with Martin key.
-2- GEORGES FLERSHEIM : three-part ladder and a low back of the helmet and a clockwork with the Flersheim key, so only changed to the Flersheim key.

-3- GEORGES FLERSHEIM : the same three-part ladder as -1- and -2-, but now with a different model head / helmet and a clockwork with Flersheim key.
-4- VICTOR BONNET : a different three-part ladder with a stand-alone stand, a clockwork with the Victor Bonnet model key. (see detail) and a new box with number 197bis.

So, you see, there are actually 4 different firefighters and Flersheim used a piece of the number -3- fireman for his new soldier.

So we are back to the soldier.
In his design for the new soldier, Flersheim took the head from his fireman from picture number -3-
Slightly changed the upper edge of that helmet.
Painted the helmet blue.
The helmet of the original fireman has in front a nice graphic, the helmet of this soldier has the same graphics hidden under the blue paint.
Took a simple dribbling “walking” body of a Martin toy like the violinist or drunkard without the arm actions.
Gave him a rifle.
Blue clothes and there was a new soldier and exactly in the mind of Fernand Martin himself.
This toy has only a “walking” action.

So now we know that the name is : Homme de tranchée and now we must be looking for a original box.

From the mid 1800s till today it is all the rage to collect paper collecting plates.
These were issued for free or packaged in various products.
These collector plates were in any case published in Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Italy
Children were able to collect entire series in this way, sometimes more than 10,000 different pictures were published per country with the most different themes.

The dimensions are usually around 6 x 10 cm
These collector plates are called “Chromos” (color image)
The provision of this chromo image as advertising material began around 1850 in the “Au Bon Marché” department store in Paris
Au Bon Marché came up with the idea of offering their clients’ children a color print, the children then encouraged the parents to make purchases again at this department store and it worked, it was a resounding success.
On these prints is a nice picture on the front and an advertising message on the back.
Later these plates were also put in or on the packaging of new products such as chocolate, concentrated milk, broth extract, soup, etc.
The chromos became a means to increase the sales of those products. Nowadays they are still issued, often by grocery chains where if you buy goods for a certain value, you get a closed bag with a few collectible plates (chromos). The intention is that you can then trade double with your friends to complete a compilation album. The youth love it, now and in the past.

I have found very old examples that have to do with Martin toys.

One of them shows the “Les Pousse Pousse Annamite”.
This name can also be read very small at the bottom of the wheel and is also exactly the name that Martin gave his toys.
This Martin toy was introduced in 1889 and sold during the World Exhibition in Paris that year.

On the back is advertising from 1889 for a chocolate factory in Paris.

The second example is a typical Parisian street vendor, who sells Martin toys to passers-by.
If you look at the Martin figures you see the “Ma Portiere- Le Gai Violoniste- Les Agents and the La Petite Marchande D’oragnges.
You can see that they dated from 1895 to 1901, so the picture will also date from around 1901/1902.

On the back is advertising for a fashion house in Paris

The third example is a typical Parisian street vendor, who sells Martin toys to passers-by.
This chromo is a drawn and colored image of a photo that was also used for postcards. See: https://fernandmartintoys.nl/fernand-martin-and-postcards/
On the postcard you can see the toys more clearly, it turns out to be the violinist, in a stripped down version lying on the floor and a dressed up version on the box.

On the back advertising fore a shop with haberdashery – lingerie – hosiery

They are nice extras that you can collect in addition to the real Martin toys.

Welcome – we are back!

The toy museum can be visited again – from June 1st every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.!
A visit to the museum is now possible again without a test.
There is also no documentation requirement due to the low incidence.
We used the finishing time for extensive redesigns in the head office. Craftsmen and decoration work are still ongoing.
Therefore, some exhibition areas in the main building (Poststrasse 7) are currently not accessible.
However, it may be played in the flying classroom.
The branch across the street (Poststr. 15) is complete in use.
In view of the infection situation, special regulations apply until further notice:
• The museum can only be visited with medical mouth and nose protection.
• Please keep a distance of 1.5 meters from other people at all times and observe the general hygiene rules.

Welcome to the Soltau Toy Museum. A house full of dreams and movement, treasures and stories are waiting for you to be explored.
At two locations on a total of 900 square meters, the museum houses one of the best and most diverse toy collections in the world.
And: Here you don’t just look, you can also hear, touch, try out and play – an experience for the whole family!

Little Paris, a new exhibition unit is currently being built in our museum branch – Poststrafle 15 – with fantastic French toys from the turn of the century.
The focus is on mechanical tin figures by Fernand Martin.
All objects come from Arthur Verdoorn’s large collection and were donated to the Spiel Foundation.

The toy museum with probably the largest museum collection of ” Fernand Martin-George Flersheim and Victor Bonnet ” toys in the world.

The following text is written by Mathias Ernst from the toy museum in Soltau and has been translated from German in Englisch.

Toys by the famous French tin toy inventor and manufacturer Fernand Martin are the focus of our “Petit Paris” exhibition department. We owe this wonderful collection to Arthur Verdoorn and his friend Lourens Bas.

By the way: The richly illustrated standard work on Fernand Martin including video DVD (the result of years of research by Lourens Bas and Arthur Verdoorn) is currently available in our museum shop.

More information: www.spielmuseum-soltau.de

Found a new box of the Voiture Nounou Poupon from Victor Bonnet

Until now we only knew one box of the Voiture Nounou Poupon number 265 made by Victor Bonnet
In February 2019 a Voiture Nounou Poupon with a unknown box was sold on Ebay France, and a second one I found on Ebay France in june 2021, this second one is sold for € 1135,00

The box of the second example was quite damaged, but the image is still clearly visible. In the pram was a small celluloid doll with blankets and a piece of cardboard on the bottom, maybe it is original but I can’t confirm that as this is the first one I see with doll and blankets.

I don’t know the exact date on which the drawing of the box label was changed, but maybe it changed in the early 30s

On both boxes you can see the name V.B. & Cie, in 1934 the factory moved to another location and also got a new name VÉBÉ
It is not known how long the VB & Cie factory has made these toys, but in an advertising brochure from the late 1930s, it is no longer there.

On this new box you see a female figure with a typical 1930s dress and she walks in another park.
The toy in the box has remained exactly the same.

Thanks to mr Thomas Bear for sharing a photo

A Martin, unknown to me, has been auctioned at a French toy auction at 22-05-2021 of SEQUANA SAS in Rouen.
This one was part of a bigger lot.
It wasn’t mentioned in the description so I don’t think the auctioneer and original owner knew that it could be a Martin.
I can’t place him in the range of well-known toys from Martin or one of his successors at the moment of the auction.

Recognizable is the face, it looks strong like a Martin, a typical Martin type Key, it has the movement and feet from a few Martin and Flersheim figures. Martin used this type of movement/feet from 1901, the first one was a toy with number 185 the “Le vieux marcheur” this type of feet and movement where used for several figures till in the Flersheim period.

I started comparing him with the well known Martin and Flersheim men and came to the conclusion that it must almost certainly be a Flersheim figure, which one?? I don’t know, maybe this is the missing L’Ambulant
The Flersheim numbering is still incomplete and there are many ambiguities in the various books.
If we can find a corresponding box with number and name then another piece of the puzzle has been found.

If anyone has more information, please email me at cor@vanschaijk.com

Adolphe Baroncelli known under the name of Adolphe Gauwin, born April 23, 1865 in the 16th arrondissement of Paris city where he died March 2, 1934 at his home in the 10th arrondissement, was a French composer.
His merits: more then 800 works
Sources: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Most of his compositions are under the name AD Gauwin. This composer has also released a few piano compositions in 1903, based on Fernand Martin’s toys as an example. At that time you could buy the compositions separately or as a bundle.

As you can see on the list, numbers 3 to 8 are names of well known Martin toys.
Numbers 1 and 2 are still questionable.
Could number 1 be the “Le Sonneur Endiablé “?
Could number 2 be the “Ma Portière”?
You should be able to watch the entire series to be sure, but they are very difficult to find, maybe one of the readers has the whole series ?? let me know.

Can anyone help me with more pictures from this piano music series? mail me cor@vanschaijk.com

While Searching for interesting Martin related articles, I came across two interesting books (reports).
It are the reports of the exhibition catalogs of the French section at the international exposition in Saint Petersburg.
The first exhibition was held from 23-1901 to 23 January 1902 and the follow-up exhibition from 05-1903 to February 1904.
French toys were represented at both exhibitions.

Why an exhibition in Russia (Saint Petersburg)
Due to the mutual quarrels of various countries in the late 1800s, friendships were dissolved and new friendships arose
France and Russia became good friends in those years, not only in terms of trade, but also militarily.
France and Russia had a (secret) treaty since 1893.

At the first exhibition 1901-1902 in St. Petersburg, Fernand Martin was responsible for the organization of the toy department.
This report was issued by the Secretary of Commerce, Industry, Post and Telegraphs
According to this report, the room dedicated to French toys was one of the busiest, the reason would be due to the universal reputation of the Paris toy industry, and based on:
-the superiority of its manufacture,
-the perfection of the craftsmanship,
-the elegance of the models
-the diversity of the constantly renewed creations,
Due to this reputation it could not help but attract an audience.
There was everything in the toy field to see from the cheapest toys to the most expensive.
The organization of the group of toy manufacturers was due to the initiative of Mr. Fernand Martin.
But the fight that French toys waged against German competition was very difficult because the price of labor in France was much higher than in Germany.
By making improvements to their tools, the French toy manufacturers were able to make up for the difference in cost.
The success at the Saint Petersburg exhibition was complete for the French toys and games. Most of the participating exhibitors had also taken part in the 1900 World’s Fair.

The second exhibition from 1903-1904:
This second report was also issued by the Minister of Trade, Industry, Post and Telegraphs
For the toy part the rapporteur was Leo Claretie.
After the great success of the first exhibition, Fernand Martin was enthusiastic to organize this second exhibition
But the enthusiasm among the toy manufacturers was very low this time.
Of course the toys had to play a large and prominent role again.
But it was not without some tension because of the very special situation of the French toy industry at that time.
Five or six years earlier there was only one group: “the French toy manufacturers”.
But now there are two groups, the big and the small manufacturers.
Increasing German competition forced manufacturers to produce faster and cheaply, but this required machinery, equipment, special tools and steam plants.
Only those who had the capital could follow the progress and fight back.
There were about one hundred and fifty at that time.
The small toy manufacturers were left isolated.
In 1901, the Prefect of Police, Mr Lépine, took care of them, made them compete, exhibited, encouraged and, brought them together.
In total there were about five hundred, grouped together in an association of French small manufacturers and inventors with Mr. Seigneurie as their president.
The major toy manufacturers argued not to participate in this exhibition because it was not cheap to exhibit, and they were all busy with the preparations for the St. Louis-World exhibition.

They also claimed that at the previous St. Petersburg exhibition, the toys were priced too high to be sold in Russia.
But that turned out to be a wrong argument, because on the first day of that exhibition, the representative received assignments weighing 400 kilos of Parisian toys within a few hours.
But Fernand Martin committed and with tireless tenacity managed to get some of his colleagues enthusiastic.
In the meantime, the group of small manufacturers also came to Martin and asked for permission to participaid in this exhibition.
But they could not and would not pay anything because they had no means of their own
However, it seemed to Martin that these small manufacturers were nevertheless interesting.
They were the traditional craftsmen of French toys.
By drawing up admission requirements for the 1903-1904 exhibition especially for their very exceptional and modest admission, it was still possible.
But Martin did not expect any resistance from any major manufacturers.
It turned out that in the group of small manufacturers there were some members who did not belong to the group of large manufacturers but who did have large workshops, many workers and good sales and therefore did not need to feel sorry.
So some had used their links with the small manufacturers to be included in “the small manufacturers group package“.
Because of this injustice many large manufacturers withdrew.
Very few large houses remained, while other factories were grouped under the beneficent banner of Mr. Seigneurie, which cost the organization more than it wanted and thought.
Ultimately, the Paris toys were represented by six major manufacturers and then by a community of small manufacturers consisting of twenty participants.

Pictures are “Free Public Domain” from the Getty Research Institute

Fernand Martin toys: Le Vaillant Boer and The Gentleman in Khaki

Martin has released two soldiers who fought in South Africa in the same war, just not on the same side but against each other.
The “Le Vaillant Boer” was a soldier who fought on the side of the Dutch-speaking farmers, the “The Gentleman in Khaki” was an English soldier.
The word Khaki is derived from the typical gray-yellow color of the clothes of these soldiers.

Here again is “The Gentleman in Khaki”, made in Paris, but mainly sent to London, where it is highly sought after.
Dressed in khaki, the English gentleman crosses his bayonet against an imaginary Boer.

I found a text in the magazine: La Charente December 18, 1900 indicating that this toy was produced especially for the English market.
a part of the text of the article:
Les Jouets Du Nouvel An
–Here again is “The Gentleman in Khaki”, made in Paris, but mainly sent to London, where it is highly sought after.
Dressed in khaki, the English gentleman crosses his bayonet against an imaginary Boer.–

In all the books I’ve seen the name Le Gentleman Khaki is used, but I think that may not be the original name.
On a original 1902 French poster is the same name as on the box: so I think that The Gentlemen in Khaki is the original name.

A little bit of history:

This (second boer war) was from 11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902.
It was a war between the Dutch-speaking Boers of the South African Republic (Transvaal) and Orange Free State on the one hand, and the British Empire on the other hand.

The war was the result of many years of tensions between the Boers and the British.
In the beginning it started with a conventional warfare, after conquering their capitals, the Boers turned to guerrilla tactics.
The British retaliated with the principle of the scorched earth.
They build concentration camps where many women and children died from the bad conditions.
In this war on the side of the “Boers” about 2000 volunteers fought from different countries as for example, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France etc.

Sources: All pictures with the toys courtesy of Bertoia Auctions and the section history: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I found this extremely rare and 100% original photo at a French toy dealer Mr François Binetruy. He has a shop “Brocante L’Orangerie” in France in the place Versaille and a webshop https://www.binetruy.org/ . These kind of photos are very very rare and unique and you don’t see them often.

Maker of this photo is Paul Geniaux (1873-c.1930).

Very rare period silver print representing a traveling salesman of toys behind his stall in front of the many dreaming children. We see many toys of Fernand Martin, and if I look closely I recognize the Martin’s: (Mysterious ball – Cook – Pianist -Street sweeper – Gentleman Khaki) and from Lehmann: (Sailor, Li-La, Chinese) and others: the boxes of the toys are piled under the table. And on the right side next to the big pillar you see a second toy seller with Martin toys, you can easily recognize the Mysterious ball (La Boule Mystérieuse from 1906)

The shooting is around 1906 and located rue de Rivoli at the level of the Protestant temple in front of the Louvre in Paris.

On verso, author’s stamp and handwritten annotations. Format with margins 13.2 x 17.5 cm. Unfortunately the photo has been partly crumpled.

I am not surprised that it has already been sold within a few days.

Photos used with permission from François Binetruy

A few years ago, I came in possession of this very special toy and after closer investigation it turned out that it has a link to Fernand Martin.
The seller could not give me any further information, he only knew that this toy was bought in France a long time ago.

It is marked on one of the legs with: FM Bt. S.G.D.G. MRe DÉPOSÉE. and that means : (Fernand Martin, Patent without government guarantees and brand name is registered )
FM = Fernand Martin
Bt > Breveté = patent
S.G.D.G. = This owas a common abbreviation for “Sans Garantie Du Gouvernement“ (without government guarantees).
MRe > marque =brand name
DÉPOSÉE. = registered

Martin has used this description more often on toys such as on this toy with number 41 La bicyclette Martin.

Fernand Martin has used almost the same man on several toys such as the:

• -old number 41, new number 121 -La bicyclette Martin 1892
  -156 Le monocycle aérien 1896
  -158 La famille vélo 1897
  -159 La pompe 1897
  -168 Le motocycle (has another hat)1898
  So I estimate this unknown toy to be from around 1890 to 1900

The dimensions are about 13 x 13 cm (5.1 x 5.1 inch)
The drive is in the rear wheel and is based on a winding mechanism with a separate key, which was quite rare for Martin in that period.
The key must be inserted between the spokes in the winding mechanism and turned up.

In the last years of the 19th century, Martin was due for replacement of the “rubber band” mechanism and the “flywheel” mechanism and was therefore probably experimenting with various mechanical windings.
-Use the wheel as a key, see number 162 Les Boeufs and number 168 Le motocycle
-A mechanism with a separate key.
The only model with a separate key and made by Fernand Martin, is one in the second Martin period and that is the: Le petit colbuteur from 1908 with number 213.
Martin’s successor Victor Bonnet often used the separate key.
-A mechanism with a fixed key
In the end he opted for a mechanism with a fixed key and used this for his “Bonshommes” models and very rarely deviated from that.

Because this is an unknown toy, it must be carefully checked.
This piece is first well checked with UV light to determine if this is old or new paint and if there are any younger paint repairs.
It has turned out that it is original old paint and that there are no “touch ups” or repairs.
But in consultation with a Dutch leading restoration agency, I have decided not to do any further profound research, such as a pigments test, because this is very expensive.
An analysis of each paint sample must then be done.
And there is another problem, the pigments that were used at the end of the 19th century can also be found in the 20th century.
Even today, these older pigments are used.
For example, the restoration agency can imagine that the white color could still be “lead white” that had been in use since the Middle Ages, but it could also be “zinc white” that was used from the end of the 19th century but is still being used today.
The tricycle itself is painted with “peinture à l’alcool” this is an alcohol-based paint and was extremely popular at the end of the 19th century and used by many French and German toy manufacturers of that time, but again it is still used today.
Fortunately, it is possible to discover with a UV lamp whether paint with old pigments were used at a later stage.

Till now this toy is nowhere to be found in old catalogs or documented in any other way.
Fernand Martin was always busy designing new toys and it could have been an prototype by Fernand Martin.
Or probably this is a toy that is made on “special request” and not in normal production.
Martin has done this before and advertised on the back of his catalogs.

That Martin made these “specials” is also indicated in an article that is published in the March 2018 issue of the Antique Toy World Magazine and written by Renaud Fournier.
We see an inscription on the back cover of the 1898 Fernand Martin catalog which states that the Martin company “executions, based on orders, all articles in stamped or cut metal ”
In other words, the Martin toy company would execute special orders that were not necessarily part of their regular production runs.
Read the complete article in the March 2018 issue of Antique Toy World Magazine.

This model of tricycles was quite popular in the late 19th century and especially with women because of their clothing at that time and with older men who did not trust the stability of the bicycles at the time.
Also in the toy industry this did not go unnoticed and they produced various toy models for the children to play and children’s tricycles on which the children could sit and propped with pedals in the front wheel.
The current tricycles for children still resemble the 19th century version with the front wheel drive.

For this tinplate tricycle there are a few possibilities:
-It could be a unknown Martin maybe one of the missing Martin numbers 144 or 146 ?
-Made as a special assignment.
-As a prototype exemple.
-It could be a old forgery.
-But it can also be a toy made by another toy manufacturer with (partial) use of Martin parts to create a new toy.
That has also been done with the toy called “Mr Chopinard” , this toy is the adaptation of Martin’s “Le Pochard” mounted on a barrel.
A small inventor/toymaker Foucault presented this toy at the Le Concours Lépine in 1901.

Perhaps Fernand Martin sold these “Martin” toy parts to these mostly small manufacturers.

If you come across such toys for the first time, with clear features and even the name reference to Martin, the big question will be: do you call them a “Martin” or else?

If there are collectors somewhere who have seen this toy somewhere else before or know more about this toy, please contact me.

cor@vanschaijk.com

Interested in more Fernand Martin toys?
Then visit my blog: www.fernandmartintoys.nl

This beautiful toy was produced from 1910
Fernand Martin number 221

It was one of the many “Bonshommes” that Martin produced and with which he had a huge success.
Martin was always on his way with his photo camera to photograph people in their daily activities and to design a nice toy from it.

This figure represents a housekeeper who goes after a rat to chase him away.
The movement is also fantastic, after winding up the female rises and bends down again to hit the rat with her broom, the rat also moves forward and back.

Martin has applied for a patent under number 433.472 with the name: Mechanical toy consisting of a person chasing a rat, a mouse or another animal with a broom for example.
The application took place on October 27, 1910
Issued on October 28, 1911
Published on January 8, 1912

Free translation from French of part of the patent text:
The present invention relates to a mechanical toy consisting of an upright subject moving in a linear fashion to hunt for him with a broom, for example a rat, a mouse or an animal.
This mechanical toy, driven by the return loop of a spring, comprises a crankshaft that moves a connecting rod that moves the upper part of the subject so that, under the influence of the rods present, it moves up and down and alternates its broom on the rat. beats who runs ahead of her.
This rat is connected by a stiff metal wire and a lever on a pendulum that gives this animal a little back and forth movement.

An invention with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:
FIG. 1 represents this side toy;
FIG. 2 is a bottom view;
FIG. 3 is a front view in section;
FIG. 4 is a section;
FIG. 5 shows the movement from the rod to the rat.

As can be seen in these drawings, the toy in question preferably represents a standing woman wearing a sturdy petticoat.

After selling the Martin factory in 1912 to Georges Flersheim, Flersheim was the owner of all the patents and registered these patents in the register of the Paris industrial tribunal.
This La Chasse au Rat was deposited on June 12, 1912 at the secretariat of the Paris industrial tribunal under number 3547

I found an very nice picture of a oil painting from around 1912 with a number of Martins on it.

It is a typical street vendor from that time, who has postponed his goods
The painting was sold at a French auction a few years ago.
Dimensions 46 x 38.5 cm

From left to right you can clearly see next Martins:
-L’hercule populaire from 1904
-Le petit Livreur from 1911
-La course en sac from 1906
-Le clown from 1902
-L’ours Martin from 1903

In this series have already been published:

https://fernandmartintoys.nl/part-1-martin-toy-used-in-art/

https://fernandmartintoys.nl/part-2-martin-toys-used-in-art/

In the early days Martin used a rubber band (elastic) as the drive.
By turning it on, the toy started to move.
The system consists mainly of a crank, a rubber band and a movement mechanism.
The drive mechanism was adjusted for each toy, such as up and down, right, left, spinning etc.

As an example, the first piece of Martin: the fish from 1878 Poisson Nageur

The crank is in the nose, inside the fish is the rubber band and the mechanism is on the tail.

In this demo model you can see clearly the mechanism in operation,
By turning the crank and hold the tail, the rubber band is tightened (twisted)
The other side of the rubber band is hooked onto the movement mechanism, the tail.
When you release the tail again, the tail swings from right to left so that the illusion of swimming is simulated.
Simple but effective.

In this example of the “Ma Portière” the upper body and the broom moves from left to right, the same movement as the tail of the fish “Poisson Nageur”, the crank is on top of the head.

The only drawback is that the rubber band can age and then break quickly.
If it breaks, the hook and mechanism will fall off and mostly get lost.

Where did Martin, Flersheim and Bonnet get many of their ideas?

A compilation of Martin, Flersheim and Bonnet toys with authentic postcards from the end of the 19th century and early 20th century.
These postcards and pictures have images of everyday street life from that time.
Martin, Flersheim and Bonnet have gained many ideas for there “Bonshommes” in daily street life but also during travels and probably also from magazines, postcards and newspapers.

Pictures from the toys: Courtesy of Toy Museum Soltau (“Spielmuseum Soltau”) in Germany, Bertoia Auctions and my own collection

Three paintings from Jacques Milet with Fernand Martin toys used in a frivolous and playful way typical of Jacques Milet

link to this very nice book: https://www.blurb.com/b/5336423-antique-toys-world-as-art

And do you want to know more about Jacques Milet see: https://villagedujouet.blogspot.com/2021/01/milet-le-peintre-du-jouet-le-jouet.html#more

Thanks to Patrick Pasky for allowing me to use these images

MODERN ART AND ANTIQUE TOYS ARE VERY WELL BROUGHT TOGETHER IN THIS WHOLE COLORFUL WORK.

This very colorful oil on canvas Oil painting is made by Linda Apple

TITEL: Anyfin Is Possible – Fisherman toy boat and Mermaid whimsical storyteller still life

The very rare boat on this picture is made by Fernand Martin and first produced in 1893
The name is: LA CHALOUPE A VAPEUR.
The length is 27.5 cm (10.63) inches

The boat normally has a “rubber band” drive, but if the “rubber band” breaks the mechanism will fall apart and get lost very easily.
The winding handle is at the front of the tip of the boat, the “rubber band” goes through the type of pipe at the bottom of the boat to the rear, there is the mechanism to convert the rotating movement into a pendulum movement.
This pendulum movement is transmitted to the rudder and to the two rods that run to the arms.
It then seems as if the man himself steered the boat by the arm movements.

The Bamboula is the representation of a dancing black person from 1901.
Martin article number 179
The height of this figure is 20 cm (7,8 inch), after winding his body waggles from left to right and his arms moving up and down.
This “Bamboula” dance form dates back a long time

The first figure is produced by George Flersheim and the other one by Fernand Martin, recognizable by the shape of the keys

A peace of history:

The bamboula, from the Bantulanguages of central and southern Africa, is derived from kam-bumbuluand ba m’bula, meaning a drum fashioned from a section of giant bamboo with skin stretched over it, as well as the rhythmic danceaccompanied by music from these drums.

Originally from Africa and although today is said to be related to the African Bomba from Puerto Rico.
The bamboula shape appears in a Haitian song in 1757 and made its way to New Orleans even before the 1791 slave revolt.
The bamboula became a dance performed to the beat of the drums, usually during festivals, celebrations and ceremonies.
The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) was a slave revolt in the then French colony of Saint-Domingue and led to the free black republic of Haiti.
At the beginning of the revolution, thousands of Haitian immigrants included many free people of color, whites, and enslaved Africans had fled the colony and a large number of them settled in Louisiana and set up new plantations there. In 1803, Napoleon authorized the “Louisiana Purchase”, leaving a huge area west of the Mississippi in the hands of the United States.
The enslaved Africans gathered during festivals, celebrations and ceremonies in New Orleans at the Congo-Square on the edge of the French Quarter area to dance the bamboula together.

The American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, born in New Orleans composed in 1848 a piece for Piano entitled Bamboula “Danse des Negres”.

Sources: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and tanks to “Period Paper” that I may use the picture from 1895 print.

A SMALL SERIES ABOUT…….

Is it a catalog image or a box label ? Note these images, as you can see there are clear differences between a box label and an image from a catalog.

Last time I took the L’Ours Martin, the Le Pochard and the Le Gai Violoniste as an example, now you see the Le Petit Culbuteur as another example of the differences between box label and the catalog image. In the old Martin catalogs the differences are often minimal but in the later Victor Bonnet & Cie catalog the differences are many more larger as this example shows.

A SMALL SERIES ABOUT…….

Is it a catalog image or a box label ? Note these images, as you can see there are clear differences between a box label and an image from a catalog.

Last time I took the L’Ours Martin and the Le Pochard as an example, now you see the Le Gai Violoniste as an example of the differences between box label and the catalog image. In the old Martin catalogs the differences are often minimal but in the later Victor Bonnet & Cie catalog the differences are many more larger as this example shows.

Considered one of the greatest toy and bank collections in existence, this collection is the epitome of good taste and quality. From near mint mechanical banks to cast iron toys, American tin to European toys, aficionados of fine pieces will find the Schroeder collection to be the perfect combination of elegance and condition. Bertoia Auctions is honored to handle this legendary sale and welcome all collectors to participate in making history this Spring!

And this time with many Martins up for auction, some of which are extremely rare! watch the catalog with this link:

http://www.flipbookserver.com/bertoia-auctions/Schroeder-catalog-1-2021

The Martins in this auction are listed below including the “Martin” number.

425 L’éminent avocat – Martin number 202
426 L’ intrépide jockey – Martin number 225
427 La conquête du pôle nord – Martin number 217
428 Les valseurs – Martin number 15
429 Le petit cuisinier – Martin number 198
430 L’entravée – Martin number 220
431 Au parfait pêcheur – Martin number 209
432 Attelage flamand – Martin number 45
433 Les joyeux danseurs – Martin number 23
434 Le sonneur endiablé – Martin number 14
435 Les courageux scieurs de long – Martin number 18
436 Les sauteur intrepide – Martin number 148
437 Pompier l’échelle (Victor Bonnet) – Martin number 197
461 Le treuil – Martin number 149
462 La blanchisseuse – Martin number 171
463 Le petit Livreur – Martin number 224
464 L’autopatte – Martin number 218
465 The policeman – Martin number 180
466 L’artiste capillaire – Martin number 196
467 La boule mystérieuse – Martin number 204
468 Le gai violoniste – Martin number 160
469 Le livreur – Martin number 22

The Bertoia team is dedicated to offering our quality customer service, experience and support.
Do not hesitate to contact us for assistance with registration, bidding or any other questions.

For the complete overview, Auction terms & Info, Shipping & Payment look at this site: http://www.bertoiaauctions.com/

After the auction, I will publish the realized prices for these Martins.

Regarding the objects described in this article, I do not make a statement about condition or value.
I advise interested collectors always do to research yourself, to view the object or to contact the seller / auction

A SMALL SERIES ABOUT…….

Is it a catalog image or a box label? Note these images, as you can see there are clear differences between a box label and an image from a catalog.

Last time I took the L’Ours Martin as an example, now you see the Le Pochard as an example of the differences between box label and the catalog image. In the old Martin catalogs the differences are often minimal but in the later Victor Bonnet & Cie catalog the differences are many more larger as this example shows.