Some years ago I was offered a group of figures made by Dorfler in the 1920's, one of the less well known German manufacturers. I think they have a certain charm of their own and thought it was time to give them an airing, so here they are:
These examples tip the scales at 60mm to the top of the pickelhaube but there was also a smaller range at 54mm, they carry no makers mark but are instantly recognisable by the distinctive hexagonal/diamond shape of the base.
German made solid lead figures tended to be cast with a generic body and separate head, which plugged into it, while accoutrements such as rifles, flags etc which were soldered onto the hands, the soft lead arms being bent into the required position to hold them. This allowed greater variety of poses in a set, also with different paint schemes, heads and equipment the armies of other nations could be produced, a practice also common with the manufacturers of composition figures.
These Dorfler figures are single piece castings, the heads and accoutrements being integral to the body, the three poses are individual sculpts; marching at the slope was cast with arm holding rifle out to the left of the body then bent into position, same for the bugler and officer except that the bugle arm and sword arms were cast out to the right and bent in towards the body, the officer figure was also sculpted with epaulettes.
The Lexicon der Deutschen Blechspielzeug-Industrie (Encyclopedia of the German Tin Toy Industry) tells us that the firm was founded by Hans Dorfler of Furth in 1904 making tin rattles, music boxes, trumpets and drinking cups. In 1921 the owner is stated as Rosa Dorfler who continued the pervious product lines but added toy soldiers, the business closed in 1935, so we have a fairly good indication of their age, not looking too bad for close to 100 years old.
