After Loretta's recent post featuring a beautiful 19th c. carousel horse, I was delighted to spot this carved cat in the Art Museum of Colonial Williamsburg today. It's no longer attached to a carousel, and sadly no one will be riding on its back in the future, but with its shining glass eyes and a fish in its mouth, it still looks like it's ready to go.
Here's the information from the museum's card:
"Gustav Dentzel established the G.A. Dentzel Steam and Horse Power Carousel Company in 1867. In 1903, he hired Salvatore Cernigliaro, an experienced woodworker from Sicily who revolutionized production in the shop. Cernigliaro discontinued many of Dentzel's time-worn patterns and redesigned others, creating an expanded array of animals noted for playful poses, naturalistic details, and fanciful trappings.
"Cernigliaro made the first examples of these innovative designs. Other carvers in the shop quickly emulated him, so it is difficult to determine whether the master himself crafted any particular figure. The company continued to sell Cernigliaro's exuberant leaping cat even after 1909 when Gustav Denzel died, his son, William, took over, and Cernigliaro left the firm. All of Dentzel's cats raise front left paws and grip prey in their mouths. In addition to fish, his felines grasp birds, frogs, crabs, and even squid."
Above: Carousel Figure: Cat, attributed to the Dentzel Carousel Company; carved by or after a design by Salvatore Cernigliaro (1879-1974), Philadelphia, PA c. 1903-1928. Painted basswood with glass eyes.
One of us -- 
3 comments:
Interesting post. Especially the part where all of the cats raised a left paw and held prey in their mouths. Do you know if there was ever a carousel of only cats?
You can still ride this cat;s sibling along with other Denzel Originals at Ontario Beach Park, Charlotte, NY. :)
I always used to ride one of the cats on the Dentzel Carousel in Rochester's Ontario Beach Park. I still live just a short walk away.
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