Igrushki v sobranii Gosudarstvennogo Ėrmitazha

The Hermitage collection numbers several hundred toys from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Made of clay, porcelain, glass, bone, wood, fabrics, papier-mâché, and metal, these articles in the main are the work of Russian craftsmen; some are of foreign origin such as the collection of tin solders by nineteenth-century Nuremberg masters (over 2000 pieces). Presented is a wide selection of clockwork toys, toy-miniatures, dolls, rattles, and table games. The author lays emphasis on the striking formal variety and the ingenious technical designs of toys, their artistic and pedagogical significance both for children and adults. A detailed chapter on collectors from the members of the Russian imperial family to such artists as Alexander Benois suggests the ways in which toys have caught the attention of discriminating people. A list of literature and a name index are provided. A publication of the Hermitage toys on such a scale has never before been attempted. -- Summary written by John W. Emerich, Bronze Horseman Literary Agency.