Need help identifying mystery figures (1 Viewer)

[theBaron]

Hi, all! I'd like to share a couple of figures I picked up recently on eBay, and which I haven't been able yet to identify. I thought you might enjoy a little mystery, too.

Here they are, a Prussian dragoon, seated and a fusilier:

The seller had identified the pair of figures as Rylit, which caught my eye. "Rylit-Zinnfiguren" is owned and operated by Fr. Ursula Littenscheidt in Grömbach, a small town west of Stuttgart. Her catalog includes Seven Years War Prussians and Austrians, though there aren't many of those items to be found right now on her website (http://shop.rylit.de/).

Here are some more shots of the figures, the dragoon, front and back:

and the fusilier, front and back:

When the package arrived on Saturday, and I could see the figures first-hand, I immediately suspected that the seller mis-identified them. For one thing, the dragoon has no markings at all, while the fusilier has these markings on the underside of the base:

The markings consist of "CTF 13" (possibly "ACTF 13") and "© 1980", plus an incised signature, that looks like the first name Al, and a last name starting with "Chu--" but I can't make out the rest.

Here are some shots of some of the other Rylit figures that I have, an ensign and a grenadier of the Batallion Garde:

These pieces are clearly marked on the undersides of the bases:

And here is one half of a horse casting by Rylit, from a Prussian cuirassier kit:

There is a tab cast into the inside of the horse, with "Rylit" inscribed on it.

So, I suspect that these figures are not by Rylit, because they don't have any markings that would tend to support that. Also, the figures are slightly different in the style of the sculpting than the Rylit figures. The Rylit castings are of equal quality to Britain's current Bluecoats and Redcoats, or Hussar Miniatures, for example (sold now through Fusilier). These aren't badly done, they're just different.

And I suspect that the seller really had no idea what he had; he probably bought them from someone else, who had given him an identification, which he passed on. He also identified the dragoon as a "Prussian musketeer", which we can tell by the heavy riding boots and the aigulettes is a dragoon, not an infantryman.

I'm not disappointed, though, in any way. No matter who made these figures, I would have bid just the same, especially for the dragoon. I like the pose, sitting on the barrel. You can't see it too well in these pictures, but he's holding a pipe in his right hand; the stem is cast along the base of his thumb and up his wrist. I'm looking forward to painting these both and adding them to my collection. But I'm curious to know more about their origin.

So, let's have some fun and see what we can come up with!

Prost!
Brad

 

[theBaron]

Wow, I can hear the crickets chirping...

In the meantime, I've gotten a suggestion from Mike von Kolpinski in Germany ("Der Blaue Rock") that these might be Sieland figures. He agreed that they're definitely not Rylit. Also, I thought the the fusilier might be by Peipp, but after comparing it to pictures of Peipp's figures online, I discarded that idea.

The same seller has another figure up right now, also flagged as Rylit, and if I win it, I'll show it here.

I've almost finished painting these two, which I'll post in my gallery, when done.

Prost!
Brad

 

[thebritfarmer]

I thought when you posted there wouldn't be much response Brad. I myself thought wow if he doesn't know then who will as you are our go to man for these obscure type cottage makers. Good luck with your search and look forward to seeing them painted.

Scott

 

[theBaron]

Hehe, thanks, Scott, that's kind of you to say! Actually, we painters here in the forum have been relatively quiet lately, anyway.

In the meantime, I've found out even more about these figures. I sent the seller a PM, and he sent me additional information. They apparently are from Rylit's catalog, long since discontinued. He is selling them for a friend who bought them when he lived in W. Germany in the 80s. The fellow who bought said that he thinks they are based on figures in the War Museum in Vienna. He still has some of the packaging, so I'm in conversation with him about those peripherals, too.

As I mentioned before, I've almost finished painting them, and I hope to finish them in the next couple of days.

I also received a box of goodies from Berliner Zinnfiguren over the weekend, some figures from their online flea market, and I'm working through those. Now, those figures, I can identify, some Puchalas, a Stadden, a Rose Prussian hussar-one of my grail figures-and a hussar by Peipp. That'll keep me busy until the East Coast Toy Soldier show at the end of October

Prost!
Brad

 

[theBaron]

Hi, all!

Here's an update on my purchases from this eBay seller, with the rest of the figures I bought from him.

As I mentioned in the earlier post, I've gotten confirmation that these figures were made by Rylit and sold in the 80's. The standing figures in the pictures that follow are marked under their bases, too. These all depict soldiers from the Seven Years War.

First, a Hungarian fusilier:

Interesting on this figure is the way the master was separated for molding. Instead of making the arms separate pieces, to be joined to the body at the shoulder, the upper arms were cast integrally with the body, and the forearms are separate pieces. You can see how the left low arm has broken off, fortunately at the joint. It was a very shallow nub, fitting into a shallow depression, which I have already drilled out for a pin.

Here is the next figure, a seated Prussian musketeer, enjoying his lunch:

The paint job on this figure is pretty well done, not a contest winner, perhaps, but done with great care. Too bad I'll strip it and paint it with gloss enamels.

Some shots from the side of this really great casting. Notice his shoe, and cartridge pouch, cast with the tree stump:

I won two more figures from this seller, a Prussian hussar trumpeter and an Austrian dragoon. They are the first and third figures in these pictures, which show the castings after a cleaning with some Easy-Off:

The hussar and the dragoon both had a primer on them that had begun to turn to powder--no fear, it wasn't lead rot, but poor quality paint. The Hungarian fusilier turned out to have a layer of an enamel primer over an old paint job. I may paint him in the same scheme, but in my own style.

The detail on the castings is excellent, executed very delicately, and whether you paint in toy soldier style, like me, or if you wanted to paint to a conoisseur standard, if you can find these, I recommend them.

I'll be working on these over the next couple of weeks, in between some other projects in progress, and I'll add them to my albums as I go.

Thanks for looking, and I hope you've enjoyed these.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Obee]

Brad,

what a BRILLIANT set of figures, I wish I'd seen them beacuse the 7 Years War in Europe seems to be very low on the current makers priority. Seems that there were a lot of Europen figures made in 1970's - 90's but nothing much since, mainly its North American Campaign only

Love to see them finished,

regards,

John

 

[theBaron]

Hi, John, thanks!

You're right, the selection of manufacturers is limited, compared to other periods of history. You can still get Ulrich Puchala's excellent Seven Years' War Prussians, from Mueritz Miniaturen (www.mueritz-miniaturen.de), who has the license rights to produce the line. Peipp of Leipzig also has some excellent figures in his catalog, and I think MiniWelt still makes his Prussians; those last two can be bought from Scholtz' Berliner Zinnfiguren (www.zinnfigur.com). But they're all real thin on the Austrians and Russians.

Of course, there's Tradition, who have come to the rescue with the British and French, and who also have their Prussians, and a smattering of Austrians. I don't know if Hecker & Goros (www.hecker-goros.de) still make the Austrians and Hungarians that they had in their catalog; I didn't see all of them there, the last time I visited the site.

Rylit still has 1 hussar showing in her online catalog (www.shop.rylit.de), but I don't think the catalog has been updated in quite some time.

Over here, we have Imrie-Risley's French hussars and British 17th Light Dragoons, which can be backdated to SYW soldiers, with very little modification.

Oh, and I almost forgot Army House, of Spain (www.armyhouse.com). They acquired the molds from Franklin Mint for FM's series on Frederick the Great's army, or at least, some of the molds. They have a couple of the figures in their catalog online. But again, all Prussians, no Austrians, Russians or French.

In flats, there's a great variety of all armies, but I find that it's mostly the Germans who buy those, as their traditional favorite style.

Ha! I said the selection is limited, then rattled off eight different makers! Well, I think it's still fair to say that that's a more limited selection, compared to the variety of makers and subjects from the Napoleonic Wars, our Civil War, and World Wars 1 and 2.

An update on these castings: I'm in the process of cleaning them up further and priming them. The Austrian dragoon was ready to go, with no further cleanup. The Prussian hussar had a little chunk missing from his Säbeltasche--and we all know how painful that can be--which I've fixed with some Milliput. I'll be working on these over the next week or so.

Prost!
Brad

 

[thebritfarmer]

Glad you were able to indentify them Brad. Looking forward to seeing you work your magic on them.