The Cardazzo Collection of Gabriella Cardazzo, an enthusiast in the field originally from Venice, was acquired in 2005 with the aim of creating a section parallel to the era of carriages as a snapshot of daily life in the world of games and toys used by both the bourgeois society and the less affluent classes of Europe in the 20th century. The collection serves as an ethnographic testimony to toys from the 19th and 20th centuries, produced in Europe, non-European countries, and overseas.
Numerous specimens include horses and carts, dolls, puppets, tin, wood, papier-mâché, and celluloid toys, encompassing a wide range of toy production from the 19th century to the toy productions of the 1970s. The Cardazzo donation constitutes the core of the Toy Museum. As per the collector’s explicit wish, the museum continues to integrate additional acquisitions in this field through generous voluntary donations, both from the local community and abroad. In particular, the donation of Andrea Gattini from Austria, his collection of toys received as gifts during the 1950s and 1960s, which includes a display case.
There are interesting donations from San Martino, Rivignano Teor, Pordenone, San Vito al Tagliamento, and some loans, such as the splendid 1938 pedal-powered Bugatti from Claudio Beltrame of Varmo and the horse with a cart from Andalusia from the first half of the twentieth century by Cesare Kechler.
The arrangement follows the criterion of displaying toys by their types and materials of the time, such as wood, papier-mâché, precious fabrics, bisque, and natural hair for nineteenth-century dolls, rags and fillings for humble toys, celluloid before plastic, then tin toys with mechanisms, dolls, puppets, and marionettes from the first half of the twentieth century, and celluloid, hard plastic, and rubber for dolls from the 1930s to the 1970s, and lithographed tin from the 1970s of the twentieth century.
A highly esteemed sector in the production of the second half of the 19th century is that of bisque dolls with the signature of the German manufacturer Armand Marseille.
The major production centers for bisque dolls were Germany and France. The heads were made of unglazed ceramic with pigments that gave a natural complexion, with particular attention to natural hair.
These were the famous Fashion Dolls produced between 1860 and 1890, mannequin dolls or fashion dolls for the more affluent classes of the time, serving as models for the lifestyle to pursue.
The hair was either natural or made of mohair according to the hairstyles of the period, the eyes were glass, fixed or movable with painted eyelashes and eyebrows, and the smiling mouths displayed visible teeth. The limbs were made of wood or composition, a mixture of glue, flour, and sawdust cast into molds. The clothing was made of precious fabrics, silk, lace, and crinoline following the fashion dictates of the era.
In the 1920s of the 20th century, Lenci, by introducing soft felt, marked the end of the fragile dolls of the past and a new way of doll production. The Lenci trademark was registered in Turin by Enrico Scavini in 1919, where LENCI stands for “Ludus Est Nobis Constracter Industria.” Thanks to the collaboration of his wife Elena Konig, Lenci dolls became not only true toys but above all artistic creations known for their precise craftsmanship, the elegance of their clothing, and the originality of their details. It was Elena Konig who sought the genius of artists like the Triestine poster artist Marcello Dudovich, creating true trendsetting models capable of influencing culture and fashion. The characteristic slanted glances and pouting faces of Lenci dolls became objects of admiration for children and adults alike.
The production was also dedicated to Ladies, boudoir dolls intended for the beds or sofas of specific lounges, used solely for decorative purposes. The Ladies by Master Dudovich are particularly appreciated.
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