*** Before we get into this week's topic, we would like to wish you all a very Happy & Healthy New Year!
****We have started to post our next auction (tentatively scheduled for early February). You can preview the auction while we build the site by clicking the Auction button at the top of the screen. Please note that the lots are subject to re-ordering and changes.
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CARTER-HOFFMAN VS ANRI - WOOD CARVED COLLEGE MASCOTS
It's never too late to learn something in this hobby. We think that we've finally solved the mystery of the wood carved college mascots that resemble the works of Carter-Hoffman. They were made by a company named ANRI that was based in Europe. The company has been around for a long time (probably the turn of the 20th century) and has made wood carved figurines of all sorts. They are best known for their religious statues, but also made a series of corked bottle tops for wine. They also made a series of college mascots that are so close in resemblance to the Carter-Hoffman figurines, that many collectors have been fooled. the ANRI figures are slightly less detailed and the lettering is a little cruder. Like Carter-Hoffman, they made a number of different sizes and many of the schools are repeated. In actuality, we are not sure who copied who- as the ANRI company certainly pre-dated Carter-Hoffman. What we do know, is that the workmanship of both companies is spectacular and that both series of figurines can be easily displayed together.
The first picture is of a standard sized Dartmouth Indian and two mini sized (Harvard & Princeton) ANRI figurines. please note that they are not as detailed as the Carter-Hoffman series and that the lettering is hand painted as opposed to decaled. The second picture shows a ANRI Cornell Bear bottle stopper and a Carter-Hoffman Stanford Indian Bottle Pourer. One sure fire way to tell the difference between the two companies is that Carter-Hoffman statues all appear to be stamped with the company name somewhere. Occasionally the ANRI figures will be marked "Italy".