Rocking Horse Studio

23/04/2025

Pic from a while ago now, just realised that they might be interesting.
A bit of a production line happening! Although it's not the most horses in the workshop at one time, it is perhaps the most unique horses in the workshop around here.
Some have gone home, Some are in the "tack shop"
For one thing, the biggest and smallest horses ... here all at the same time!
From back to front:
Mandrake, gigantic special extra carved Lines.
Extra-carved Ayres, previously hide covered.
Trinket, the smallest rocking horse we have met. Ayres, 26" - and I will post about this at another time.
Then Jessie, an Ayres spring stand getting new paint.
And the wee littlie? A beaut little cart horse how believed to be by Ayres. It's too little to warrant dapples, but I simply couldn't resist. Watch this space for what happens with the cart...

09/04/2025

Lovely little Cedric has been keeping a gorgeous secret.
I was pretty sure there would be some original paint left on him, but this is so much more than I had hoped for!
Extra Carved J&G Lines bow, 34".

That brown goo does come off, and I'm looking forward to seeing him all cleaned up.

07/04/2025

Lots of kids missed out on a major rite of passage for Australian primary school students - the big Capital City excursion to Canberra. Our son included. We've been trying to catch up for years. This past weekend we had an opportunity so we took it!
The National Library has an exhibition of photos from the Fairfax photographic archives, our son picked up on this and (correctly) predicted I'd be excited.

18/03/2025

The lovely "Nimble" has arrived!
No 4 Bartlett - it's quite a while since there has been on of these here. She will keep her "brother" Smoke, an early No 4 Roebuck company while I work on him :-).

Nimble arrived with an early No 2 Bartlett, but I think I'll reattach that one's head before I post photos. ;-)

17/03/2025

My husband will confirm I'm terrible at surprises and can't keep things to myself until they happen 😂
Arriving tomorrow are 2 gorgeous Bartletts, both very special. One is rather worse for wear but really little and I think quite early. The other is a No 4, in beautiful and hopefully salvageable original condition, including the lovely original brass rosettes with scroll patterns.
It would have been 3! Only one of them was just a little bit far for the carrier to scoop up on his way.
Meet one of them, "Nimble".

24/12/2024

Wishing all of our lovely friends and clients a very Merry Christmas!
May you all have a joyful break with your loved ones, a well-earned rest and a wonderful start to the new year.

10/12/2024

Here is a beautiful fellow that arrived in 2017. I've been keeping him under my hat, hoping that nobody would fall in love with him and he would stay longer.

I had a fiddle with him last week while waiting for glues/paints to dry on others and after a brief "squeeee!" the little bit of original paint I found was just that - a little bit. But I did clean out around the strapping that holds his head on to find a gorgeous, refined gullet and under a layer of fibreglass lumpy lumps was a very elegant old horse with a stunning head and beautiful legs. And other than the obvious decapitation, chipped ears and eroded flared nostrils (straightforward repairs) - in rather good condition, and complete stand. I knew he was an ugly duckling waiting to become a swan again, but he's even better under the mess than I thought.

Once I found his face, he told me that he would like to have a name.

He is among the loveliest of the Lines horses to come through, which - by sheer coincidence - all have names starting with M.

I couldn't think of an "M" name to fit him soooo...

Meet "Diego".

J&G Lines.

49" extra carved, circa 1890.

20/11/2024

For sale: beautiful copy of The Rocking Horse - A History of Moving Toy Horses by Patricia Mullins. Complete with supplement by Marguerite Fawdry, An International Survery of Rocking Horse Manufacture. Books are in mint condition, slip cover with some wear.

A perfect gift for lovers of vintage and antique rocking horses.

This is one of the must-have books for any rocking horse enthusiast, and a goldmine of information as well as gorgeous photos.

This particular copy has some inevitable light wear to the slip cover, which considering the book was published in the 1990s is very minor and I would rate the condition as excellent for its age. There is a little hazing on the back of the dust jacket and almost none on the front. Again this is inevitable as a result of removing the book from the slip cover. Overall the dust jacket is bright and glossy. The white spots on the cover are just reflections of a light fitting.

The book itself appears never to have been opened. It hasn't been out of the cover in the time I've had it - I have my "working" copy that I refer to, this one has been almost untouched. The main book and the Marguerite Fawdry supplement are in mint condition. I have not opened either myself.

This book sells on Amazon for $660-900 in similar condition.

$500
Express postage within Australia included.
$250 if purchasing with a rocking horse.

19/11/2024

SOLD
“Signet” – very small antique Simpson and Fawcett “Swan” rocking horse, ready to make someone very happy this Christmas. (Sounds like cygnet 😉 )
Signet is a petite jewel of a rocking horse, standing 77.5cm high, 62.5cm to saddle, 80cm long and 33cmm wide. Going by the table from 1914-15 (see page 428 in A Kiss of Rocking Horses by David Kiss), this makes her halfway between size 0 and A/small. She is ideally suited to display on a dresser or in a tight nook, or to display smaller teddy bears and dolls.
Signet has the distinctive pillar profile, serial number plate on belly ( #391900 or 391909) and “crank” in the swing arms that identify her as a Swan.
“Swan” horses are rare and hard to come by anywhere in the world. These little ones especially are rare and highly prized by collectors who adore them.
Signet arrived from the UK in the middle of the year with a view to us keeping her but she is now available. She was restored in England before I bought her, but unless whoever did the work comes contacts me I don’t know who did the work or when. She had a tasteful and sensitive restoration with lovely antiqued finish, all leather tack and felt saddle cloths in lovely colours. Everything is in immaculate fresh-looking condition, I have not noticed any signs of new wear since the restoration was done. The stand is in good order. There are signs that the original paint could still be there under the current restoration. I haven’t investigated as doing that would mean repainting everything if nothing is there and the paint is too good to destroy on the off chance there is original paint in decent condition remaining.
Price includes delivery anywhere in the Sydney metro area. I can also deliver within 2 hours’ drive from Ryde, ie between Wollongong/Southern Highlands/Blue Mountains/Hunter Valley/Newcastle for the cost of petrol and a cup of coffee.
Viewing welcome by appointment.

$3950

15/10/2024

This is the third of the 3 horses that just arrived.

Extra carved bow horse, 41"

His working name is Puzzle as still not 100% confident about attribution. Some features are typically JR Smith, others Lines and yet others Lines Bros. Sportiboy details have been pointed out, but pommel holes indicate he pre-dates Lines Bros production.

Regardless, Puzzle has a super pretty refined face, turned head, beautiful neck and an elegant silhouette. The twin stretchers are unusual.

He will get new paint, new eyes, repaired ears, new hair and tack and the bows will either be stripped and varnished or repainted a traditional green.

14/10/2024

Just arrived!

Introducing Cedric

Very small bow by G&J Lines, standing just under 32".

I love little bows like this, sadly they're hard to find in such good condition due to their fragility.

Lovely little bow with extra carving, turned head and retained beautiful detailing on the bows. The decal on the bows definitely says "G&J L Ltd".

Cedric will get a makeover and will be available restored.

14/10/2024

Introducing Signet*

Delightful tiny Swan standing just over 30", just arrived.

Swans are fairly rare, and this is only the second one I have had. A larger one, Penelope, came over in an early importation.

*Sounds like cygnet 😉

14/10/2024

And they are here!

Everything that could go wrong did go wrong on arrival in Australia. The vessel was delayed 3 weeks and arrived the day after we departed for overseas. Then it was slow to get from the dock to bonded warehouse - on the day we moved to a remote location where I couldn't get and stay online long enough to deal with it.

All safe and sound, and I'm happy with them.

I was quite impressed with the creativity in packing them.

05/06/2024

More exciting news...
These are the two little that are coming over with the bow in the last post.
The little bow is only tiny at 31.5". I don't fancy his goth eye makeup or powder blue tack so that will be sorted. His bows are just lovely and still have Lines decal.
The other, I'm pretty certain, is a teensy-weensy, mere 30" Swan!!!
The three will travel together, along with the one on cream bows.
I had to make the shipping cost-effective...

24/05/2024

It's been 4 years since our last importation, and it was a very nasty shock to see how shipping prices have exploded since then. All the same, it's very exciting to have something fresh on its way soon!

This lovely extra carved bow (as yet unattributed) will shortly be joined at the shippers' by two very special and very little horses before sailing to Australia for arrival in July.

30/04/2024

Another rocking horse road trip with my best roadie, and I'm thinking I'm going to start a tradition to visit the Dog on the Tuckerbox with her on these trips down the Hume.
12.5 hours on the road - 10.5 actually driving - and 950km later, this pretty chap is safely home.
His name is XaVier, as when I got home Mark said "happy anniversary darling" - it's our 15th anniversary this week (XV).
I bought Xavier from a lady who recently inherited him from her mother, who in turn bought him in the 1970s from an elderly gentleman who had inherited it from his father, who was his first owner. It's so lovely to have such a short provenance 🙂.
Xavier fills a hole that I've been looking to fill for a looooooong time - I purchased a very lovely Leach in 2012 that I then sold as I thought we were going to need a nursery and there was no space... and then no longer needed a nursery but could no longer get the horse back.
Xavier is a petite little fellow, small enough to reside in the bedroom with me...
More photos in daylight.

26/02/2024

The phone has been ringing a lot today! ;-)

In the niche world of enthusiasts, the shape of a rocking horse's legs and how detailed the carving is can determine if it's worth hundreds or even tens of thousands of dollars.