Tiny Town Zoo. J. W. Spear & Sons. London. Made by J. W. - Lot 147

Tiny Town Zoo. J. W. Spear & Sons. London. Made by J. W. S. & S. Bavaria. Bavaria (circa 1900). Tiny Town Zoo. J. W. Spear & Sons. London. Made by J. W. S. & S. Bavaria. Bavaria (circa 1900). Cardboard box, size 47 x 31.5 x 4.3 cm. Chromolithography on the lid: children on the back of an elephant led by a keeper. The interior is divided into several sections: a chromolithographed canvas sheet - 67.5 x 41.5 cm - which unrolls, serving as a plan, on which sixteen cages are to be set up (one of which is double), four of which are roofed. Each cage houses one or more animals. There are also five groups of visitors and an elephant led by a keeper, carrying children on its back. An explanatory leaflet is glued to the back of the lid. English version of a German game for setting up a zoo, manufactured in Nuremberg by J. W. Spear & Söhne for distribution by its English subsidiary. The cages and grids are assembled, and the animals and visitors are mounted on pedestals. All the elements are placed on the floor shown on the large fold-out sheet on which the building locations are marked. The game reflects the city dwellers' enthusiasm for the zoological parks that were opening in all the major European capitals at the end of the 19th century. The game excited children's imaginations and introduced them to animals. A few restorations, the camel is missing, but the whole remains exceptional.