Vintage Ornament Blog

Figurals

Written by: Kevin Milaeger

December 20th, 2022

European figural ornaments are perhaps the type of ornaments most sought after. They are relatively scarce, maybe owing to the fact that when an estate is ready to be disbursed, collector type relatives snatch them up. Just a theory. Still, a number of ornaments do make it to the marketplace and we have some for your consideration. The first group is what I call “face” ornaments. That is, they all have faces. Animals and various kinds of people, excluding Santa Claus figures—they are in a group of their own. In the face group this time we see dogs, bears, and rabbits, and also clowns, snowmen, soldiers, and more. I especially like the snowman with the red cap and matching stick. I believe these are all probably German.

"Face" Figurals

You will remember that in years past we’ve offered a number of “nipple” ornaments. These are often round, or roundish ornaments with a protuberance at the base, vaguely resembling a nipple, or so someone thought. (I didn’t come up with the name.) These are mostly from Germany and Poland. They are fairly large, and quite a few have at least one indent. As usual, there are many shapes and colors. Probably the most unusual one in this group is the oval shaped ornament with five red nipples on the edge. I also like the deep blue one with a rich crimson indent, and gold nipple.

Nipple Ornaments 1

Nipple Ornaments 2

The fan favorite figural ornament is, of course, Santa Claus. We have a number of different styles, with Santa heads, the top half of Santa, and the full figure. Many variations of each. Although we have only one in this group that has a coat of a color other than red, there are other colors out there. The more rare the color, the higher the price.

Santa Figurals

In addition to the figurals, we are showing some late arrival non-figurals. We’ve divided them into American and European. In the European group, note the unusual lavender colored one in the center. Actually, I’m not certain this is European, as it has an American cap, but it’s very unusual no matter where it was made. This is the final ornament blog of the season. On this, the eve of the winter solstice, we at Milaeger’s wish you a very Merry Christmas!

European Miscellany

American Miscellany

Please email me if you have any questions or comments. If you are interested in purchasing ornaments pictured in this blog, please contact Nick at 262.693.2040 x101 or info@milaegers.com.

Figurals

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