Fashioned in the era before plastics, this clever walker (made of ?rattan) is a detail in a larger painting entitled "The Treat," by Giovanni Sandrucci -
- which I found posted at Miss Folly. I've not been able to find out anything more about the artist, except that he was Italian (1829-1897), so I presume the walker was a construction of that country in that era. I should think the history of children's walkers would be an interesting topic to research for a longer post.
Addendum: I just found a nice collection of images of baby walkers (dating back as far as the 15th century!) at A Polar Bear's Tale.
If I can find it at work tomorrow, I'll post a pic of an Elizabethan baby walker from Harvington Hall. It's a pair of low rails along which baby slid in a sort of cursor arrangement.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a bump-cap, like a quoit made of padded silk with tapes over the crown which fits on baby's head.
There's nothing new under the sun!
Here's such a pic: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2693196440097949574LwyrUw
ReplyDeleteVery unusual. Thanks.
DeleteThat's the very one - I have a rather nicer pic of it somewhere, taken on a school trip.
DeleteHarvington Hall is rather splendid - Elizabethan with real priest-holes and all. An excellent place to learn that sort of thing.
I would be surprised if it was made from rattan. Willow is more probable.
ReplyDeleteYou're probably right; I didn't know what word to use. Is "wicker" the same thing?
DeleteThis walker looks as if it is made of stripped willow, much in the same way you would make a fishing creel.
ReplyDelete