Description:
Highly unusual & very finely detailed old original lead late 19th century fishing weight? or toy bank part? or clock weight? or? in the form of a fishing weight. I believe this piece was designed by the famous mechanical bank designer Charles A. Bailey.
Refer to "The Bank Book" by Bill Norman to examine photos showing examples of his designs including "Baby Elephant Unlocks at Ten O'clock, Springing Cat, Chinaman in a Boat, Darky Fisherman, Aunt Dinah and the Fairy, & Wishbone. It is most probable that this weight dates from the same period as Bailey's lead banks which would put it in the 1880's.
As I have personally owned some of these banks I am well aware of the precise comparisons of the details to this weight. Having closely looked at all of these designs of banks this piece truly seems to be in the hand of Bailey.
All of these banks display the same type of detailed lead executed & cast in the same manner as the weight in offered. It is particularly interesting to note that the Darky Fisherman Bank shows one of Bailey's completed designs utilizing a fishing theme & a fish at the end of a pole.
This weight or bank part has a fish & fishing line wrapped around a tree branch on each side. One side has the wording "Capt. U. B. Hab." The length is 2 11/16" & the base measurement is 7/8" by 3/4". Was this designed by Bailey for a "Capt. U. B. Hab." mechanical bank which is yet to be discovered? I do not know. But, it is indeed quite plausible.
I found this item fifteen to twenty years ago in a group of toy bank parts which had originally turned up near the Stevens Toy Factory in Cromwell, Connecticut. I have had it sitting in my bank parts box for all these years waiting to hopefully locate some, as of yet, unknown Bailey mechanical bank to put it on.
But, I have not yet been able to determine for certain whether it went on a mechanical bank or whether it was purely designed as a fishing weight or a clock weight or some other object. In any event, it is quite a fascinating & extremely rare item whatever it is.
For information on Charles A. Bailey I have gone to the "Bank Book" by Bill Norman on pages 27 for his early lead alloy mechanical banks & to page 68 for a history of the man. Bailey was a designer & sculptor. While living in Middletown, Conn. he designed several lead alloy mechanical banks which were all patented from 1880-1882.
In the 1880's he also designed several mechanical banks for Stevens on a royalty basis. Some of these utilize lead figures which was probably a transitional carryover from his earlier all lead designs. In approximately 1890 he joined the J. & E. Stevens Toy Co. in Cromwell, Conn. as their head designer. There is additional information on Bailey in the Bill Norman book on page 68.
In a recent email correspondence with Jeff Herr who is a major collector of fishing related objects I mentioned this listing to him. He contacted John Ganung who owns & runs Lang's Tackle Auction which is probably the largest auction of fishing related objects in the U.S. In an email from John Ganung to Jeff Herr John said the following "Have never seen a weight like this. Not just the intricate design, but for its age, its too large & weighs too much. The only sinker this heavy would be a trolling weight & that would be from the 1920's. This looks late 1800's to me. I think it's a clock weight or part to something. Just my two cents."
We guarantee this item to be original as described with an uncertain, but very likely, attribution to Bailey. We offer a full & prompt refund if you are not satisfied & if the item is returned in the same condition within 3 days of receipt.
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