1880s Ernst Heinrichsen German Painted Lead Soldiers Set with Original Box Lid little boxes and friend in my neck

and friend in my neck of the woods

substantial scale

All of which--plus one more name written on the underside of the slide lid with the year 1875--add up to making this feel like a watercolor set that lived a life--and make me very much wish I had the (surely wonderful PA folk art) watercolors it gave life to

plus very gestural white whiskers and intensively painted spots all over

1880s Ernst Heinrichsen German Painted Lead Soldiers Set with Original Box Lid little boxes and friend in my neckFelt feels to me like time for a blue army! And I love the scale and delicacy of these hand painted lead soldiers, produced by Ernst Heinrichsen, Nrnberg (Nuremberg) in 1882. 29 figures total here, from what I believe was a complete set of 30, with one cavalry officer, one flag bearer, one trumpeter, two drummers, and the rest marching along carrying rifles with bayonets. (Those rifles, and indeed the figures themself, are pretty pliable, so can be