Toys, Companions of a Child's Fantasy

A Timeline

The Seven Ages of Man
From a page of a Flemish religious manuscript of the fifteenth century.

The illustrations on the border show children playing with;

• windmill

• whip and top

Gold Snuff-box of Louis XV

From enameled panels by unknown eighteenth century artist.

The illustrations on the boxes show children playing;

• on the left a girl with a battledore and shuttlecock

• on the right a boy holding a whip and top

The Children of Count Carl Gustaf Wrangel
From a painting by the Swedish court painter David Klocket Ehrenstrahl

Children emulate the military triumphs of their father. The toys in the painting are;

• hobby horse

• windmill

• drum

The Family of the Duke of Osuna
From a painting by Goya in about 1786

The boys play with;

• hobby horse

• small wheeled carriage

La Gouvernante
From a painting by Chardin in the eighteenth century

The boy is shown with;

• battledore

• shuttlecock

Le Bon Genre

From one of a series of stylized engravings published in France in 1820

The instinct for imitation of a girl with her doll copying her mother with her baby.

The Vaughan Boys

From a painting by Robert Edge Pine 1780

The boys play with;

• yo-yo

• whip and top

Little Girls
From a photograph by an unknown artist about 1860

Two little girls in similar dress pose with their toys;

• doll

• rocking horse