Credit Where Credit is Due

With my interest in model horse history, one piece of information I love ferreting out is the names of the sculptors who created my model horses.

Not all companies are very free with this information, which I find disappointing.  I very much believe in acknowledging artists, and it seems churlish of some companies not to reveal this information.

Of course, some companies were formed before anyone kept good records on this information.  We know about Breyer's Chris Hess because he worked for the company for such a long time and even signed some of his work.

With Hartland, we know that the two main sculptors were Roger Williams and Alvar Backstrand, but it's difficult to determine if either one of them was solely responsible for the horses (although Roger Williams seems to be the most popular candidate for that credit).  However, when new sculptures were added under Paola Groeber's Hartland Collectables, those who crafted the new sculptures were properly acknowledged.

So some things are getting better.  We don't know who sculpted the early CollectA horses, but CollectA now proudly trumpets Deborah McDermott as their foremost equine sculptor.  Both the original Creata Winner's Choice Micro Minis and the later Breyer Mini Whinnies were/are credited to sculptor Candace Liddy.  And the late, lamented Copperfox was always very good about identifying its sculptors.

But there are still some gaps.  Although the information may be out there, I don't know who does the Schleich horses, the Safari horses, or other similar models (Mojo, Papo, Bullyland, etc.).

Do you know our sculptors?

And even Breyer leaves some extremely frustrating gaps.  Despite emailing Breyer and consulting with the Breyer History Diva, I have yet to learn who sculpted the three Equine Art Collection horses, nor do I know who sculpted the PVC Spirit and Friends set.  And although they may be tiny and a bit crude, I'd love to know who sculpted all the Stablemate companion animals.  After all, someone must have designed them ...

In general, though, it's the fan sites that provide the most useful information.  The Stone Horse Reference site is the place to go to find out where Stone's sculpts came from, and the Identify Your Breyer database and the related Identify Your CollectA database are indispensable resources for Breyer collectors.  For Copperfoxes, if you missed the names of their sculptors when their models were released, you can always look them up in the Copperfox Guide.

For clinkies, we have the Identify Your Hagen-Renaker database, the Lakeshore Collection Reference site, and the Pour Horse Pottery website; for Beswicks and Royal Doultons there are innumerable collectors' guide books available.
  
In addition, some china horse companies seem to be large largely the work of a single sculptor, like Animal Artistry's Donna Chaney and Cheval's Jan (Johnny) deBeer.  Other pieces are often signed, like those by Pamela du Boulay and Doris Linder.

The unfinished North Light Horses database provides information about those commercial resins. And even though the whole point of artist resins is that we know who the sculptor of each piece is, if you come to own a piece for which you do not have that information there are the Model Horse Artisan Guide, the Resin Horse Editions and the Equine Resin Directory databases to help you sort things out. 

I'm sure there's even more information out there if you're willing to search for it, but it takes a certain sort of dedication.  How much easier it would be if all model horse manufacturers would simply give credit where credit is due!