Interviews: Robert Bradford

“When and why did the idea first occur to you to take toys as your inspiration?

I began using toys as my central material about five years ago, it started in my studio in Cornwall and began simply from a few moments that I spent staring into into my childrens cast off toy boxes which happened to be stored there. I responded to the variety of colours and forms they presented, the random juxtapositions, and the non rational ‘meanings’ that those combinations started to take on My work over several years had usually incorporated elements from my immediate environment, everything from whole books magazines and twigs collaged into paintings t, scrap building timber furniture and tree waste into sculptures. There are many reasons for choosing scrap, the obvious first one being financial. I have always enjoyed working on a physically large scale, paintings that you could feel that you could enter, sculptures larger than life. For some time I was making pyrotechnical fire sculptures in parallel to the more permanent pieces so it would have been wasteful to use new flammables. I have always disliked the blandness of many traditional sculptural materials clay bronze stone plaster etc. I like materials that are more obviously malleable, that have already had a life, have been part of other peoples lives. To me the fact that these things have been used ,touched by humans for other reasons than making art automatically adds depth to the work by giving it a history both separate to the work and integrated within it. The toys are mini sculptures designed by uncredited people. It is both theft and accreditation.”

via The Cool Hunter

Thank You e-glue for introducing me to Little Sapling Toys. Their products are aesthetically beautiful, handmade, eco- conscious, provoke imagination and promote various aspects of development in young children — Bonus for parents and educators: Fairly priced!

“Here at Little Sapling Toys, we are committed to quality toys and a healthy earth. We plant a tree for every toy sold, use FSC Certified hardwoods, recycled content packaging and participate in our local green power program.

Each toy is handmade by our family in Boise, Idaho. Our way to reconcile modern and natural beauty is by using Maple, Cherry and Walnut woods together with our own beeswax and organic jojoba oil finish. We design our toys to help young children develop creativity, pattern recognition and fine motor skills. Our goals are to make toys that will be beautiful to look at, fun to play with and cherished for generations. We hope these toys will be passed from our children to theirs.”

for Children: “timeless classics with a good sense of humour”

Jenny’s Home was a 1960s dolls’ house range made by Spot-on (Lines Brothers Group)

Welcome to the first blog for the British Toy Making Archive!.

The project centres around 4 of the great, but now defunct UK toy makers of the 20th century: Lines Bros (including brands, Tri-ang, Pedigree, Frog, Rovex and more) Palitoy, Mettoy and Abbatt Toys whose archives are all held at the museum. The archive also includes loads of material relating to a wide range of other toy manufacturers and the history of toy making. Over the next 3 years we will highlight some of these through the website, an exhibition, a conference, makers and study days as well as having a research facility at the museum and online catalogue.

We have already had a lot of interest in the project (from a range of toy collectors, people who used to work in the industry, historians, design students, education specialists and beyond) and I am really looking forward to seeing what other areas of the archive people are interested in and what information you may have to share with us… Get in touch!“