Spikes is a large and impressive Collinsons vintage rocking horse, probably dating to the 60s or 70s. He appears to have had a restoration within the last decade, and has just had a light restoration.
Spikes has a blonde horse hair mane and tail. fixed leather bridle, saddle, stirrups and reins, all in good condition and working order. He was repainted a few years ago, the paintwork is still in good condition, with minor gesso cracks on some leg joints. (Gesso is a fine plaster used to seal the wooden body of a rocking horse prior to painting. Being brittle it is liable to crack in areas such as leg joints where the more flexible wood underneath may flex over time. It is very common in a rocking horse of any age, and as long as it is a fine crack, less than 1mm across, it does not signify any failure or weakness with the rocking horse.)
The stand has been renovated and is again sound and in good condition.
Large Collinsons rocking horses such as Spikes have been known to serve many years of almost continuous daily riding in shoe shops, schools and hospitals, and apart from periodic restoration work are usually as serviceable as the day they were made.
Collinsons of Liverpool is a famous rocking horse making family going back as far as 1836. They are especially collectable today from their postwar output, producing cheaper horses in the increasingly mass produced markets emerging.
At this period their designs are quite distinctive with rectangular pillars, diamond shaped pillar covers, brass pin eyes, cordouroy saddles and a distinctive paint design. Medium and larger horses seem to have used rocking iron brackets from what must have been an enormous stock of Lines brackets.
Production tailed off in the 1980s, with the firm ceasing trading after five generations in the same family in 1992.
To purchase or find out more about this horse, please contact Sally, either by email or phone on the links on the footer, or better still, visit our showroom in the scenic Shropshire Hills, we would be delighted to see you.
