Rare Polychrome Paint-Decorated and Carved Pine Leaping Goat Carousel Figure, Philadelphia Toboggan Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1910

"What goes around comes around." The old adage has never rang more true than in the context of the carousel animal as a cultural artifact. An early nineteenth century amusement park mainstay synonymous with childhood merriment, carousel animals serve as vestiges of a bygone era before the handicraft of man was supplanted by the infatuation with the machine.

German immigrant, Gustav Dentzel’s creation of the first carousel in America in Philadelphia in the 1860s ignited the “Carousel Golden Age,” both in terms of craftsmanship and an expanding market benefitting from the turn-of-the-century commercialization of leisure activities. The Philadelphia Toboggan Company, founded in 1904, drew upon the “Philadelphia Style” Dentzel coined, which was characterized by the marriage of elegance with realism.¹ The Philadelphia Toboggan Company’s models were highly sought after by parks nationwide for their ornate carvings, resplendent colors, and innovative combinations of horses and menagerie animals.

Despite some stylistic variations throughout the ninety four carousels the company created between 1904 and 1934, meticulous record keeping and identification of the carousel models by engraved numbers on the center poles contributes to the ability to attribute and date each animal with greater certitude than most other companies. Of the six carousels that featured goats, only four have not been preserved or sold intact, thereby narrowing the date of manufacture for the present work between 1906 and 1912.²

The Leaping Goat is distinguished by the deft craftsmanship of the textural mohair. The purity inherent in the leaping posture renders an animal who is not typically heralded for its aesthetic qualities a rare spectacle of beauty.

¹ Toby Fraley, The Carousel Animal (Berkeley: Chronicle Books, 1987), 9.

² Richard A. Gardner and Barbara Williams, “Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel History, 1904-1941,” The Carousel News and Trader Vol. 26 no. 6, June 2010, 17.