B is for Best Show on Earth! 11. Plasticine

I shouldn't be blogging I should be painting, but I've had a couple of manic days and frankly my brother is being a c**t, so I've about had life, the universe and everything human in it! So, let's have some toys! Continuing with the show reports from Plastic Warrior's show, now over a month ago, so less than eleven months to the next one . . . bargain!

Many years ago, well, 2008 or 9, so fifteen-odd years ago, I was helping the guys up at the Potter's toy show at the NEC in Birmingham, when someone can up to us with one of these figures, or someone had brought it to show everyone (yes, it's one of those anecdotes where nothing is quite remembered!), and no one knew what it was, although there were some good guesses including something like clay modelling former, but the next day, someone sent some photo's (maybe me but I haven't Blogged them, so probably not?) to someone else (probably Paul Morehead at Plastic Warrior magazine, but maybe not?), who said Plasticine sets.

 

So far, so good, and if you had asked me at the show, last month, I could have filled you in with chapter and verse on it, as per what I have been told, or what others were saying about it, which is;

 

Cherilea for Plasticine, six figure sculpts taken from hollow-cast, who've had their midriff's scooped/scalloped-out for the purpose of modelling onto them with the Plasticine as if they are the maquettes they sort of are? And each having a name originally - two are named above; Lola and Lucy, but by a previous owner on paper tabs?

But . . . 

• By 'originally named' do they mean in Plasticine publicity (in kids comics, it would have been back then), or as the original hollow-cast dancers?
• The Cherilea dancers in Joplin don't look anything like these? Don't run to six poses, and don't seem to be named?
• Similar circumstances apply to the Charbens dancers in Joplin's book, the above sculpts being almost more Charbens'y than Cherilea'y?

 

So, I don't know what to think, as I've only been told what I've been told by members of the 'old guard', some of whom are always quick to correct me when I get something wrong! But apart from [possibly] Paul (or someone else, one of the Brummies on the day perhaps?) being correct about them being Plasticine, nothing seems to stack-up as reported. So I'd welcome not just facts, but any thoughts you may have on these!

 

If anything, the fourth from the left looks like the Women's League of Health & Beauty figure, also in Joplin, from Hill & Co.? Were there six of them, did they have names . . . all a bit pre-war and slightly fascist-sounding to me! There's nothing in the PW Hilco special publication (ISBN 1 900898 36 5)?

 

Clearly they are dancers, and they could be from hollow-cast sculpts and are more-likely to be commissioned or bought-in than manufactured by Harbutt's, the makers of Plasticine, but who made them, were they ex-hollow-cast, were they named, who by (supplier or Harbutt's), while the box reveals more . . .

. . . as there is a mention of 'mens' dress, and the box-art, itself, hints at male dancers (there are males in both Cherilea and Charbens sets), clowns, historical costume, foreign dress, Kings & Queens and a policeman!

 

So there were obviously high hopes that this would be the first of a whole new line of Plasticine sets, but while the Pres-to-Shapes press-dies did run to further sets, this would seem to have remained a one-off and doesn't turn up that often?

While this image shows other vaguely contemporary sets. I thought this image was from the Graces Guide page, but it isn't, so if it's yours I apologise, it's been in the archive for so long it's lost any note, or the 'X' I tend to use to ID such stuff, it's here now for research purposes, but if you let me know where the original is I'll gladly link to it with full attribution.

The Graces Guide page does have some interesting stuff, not least a large-scale lifeguard and an illustration of the Pres-to-Shapes dies, which look to be a hard rubber, like the Linka building system moulds?

More here - Brighton Toy Museum - Plasticine

And here - Brighton Toy Museum - Harbutt's

 

Thanks to all for everything last month; Michael Mordant-Smith, Peter Evans, Brian Carrick, Trevor Rudkin, Adrian Little, Andreas Dittmann and Gareth Morgan.