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A wonderfully unusual early-20th-century German folk-art candy container depicting a stork watching over two young birds in their nest.
The figures are individually formed from lightweight composition or spun cotton, with painted black wing markings, simple painted faces, a long red wooden beak, and slender wire legs. The family stands within a circular nest constructed from card, cotton batting, textile fibers, and naturalistic nesting material.
The round cardboard cover beneath the nest can be removed to reveal the small interior compartment once intended to hold sweets or a tiny gift.
DETAILS
Origin: Probably Germany
Date: Circa 1910–1930
Materials: Spun cotton, composition, cardboard, wire, wood, textile fibers, and paint
Subject: Stork family with two young birds
Form: Figural candy container
Style: European folk art
Maker: Unmarked
Height: Approximately 4–5 inches
Width: Approximately 4 inches
Number of pieces: Two—the figural container and removable circular cover
CONDITION
Antique condition with considerable character and age-related wear.
The piece displays overall discoloration and surface soiling to the spun-cotton and composition figures, fading and rubbing to the painted details, oxidation and bending to the wire legs, fraying and small losses to the cotton batting, and displacement or loss to portions of the natural nesting material.
The cardboard base and removable cover show age-related wear, softening, staining, and edge separation. The figures and their delicate components remain exceptionally fragile and should be handled only by the container base—never by the birds, beak, or wire legs.
No cleaning or restoration has been attempted. Please inspect all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.
COLLECTOR NOTES
German workshops produced imaginative figural candy containers from spun cotton, cardboard, composition, wood, and wire during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The hollow compartments were filled with sweets or small gifts and presented for holidays and special occasions.
In German and Central European folklore, the white stork represented family harmony, good fortune, fertility, and the arrival of a new baby. This tender grouping of an adult stork and two young birds may originally have been given to commemorate a birth or christening.
The complete family grouping is considerably less common than the individual spun-cotton stork figures most often encountered.
A compelling addition to a collection of antique German candy containers, European folk art, early childhood objects, spun-cotton ornaments, or historical bird imagery.
HOHM PROVENANCE
Selected by HOHM for its delicate handmade construction, unusual family symbolism, and evocative connection to early-20th-century European gift-giving traditions.
PLEASE NOTE
Antique and vintage objects naturally display evidence of age, previous use, and individual history. All condition details visible in the photographs should be considered part of the description.
This object is extremely delicate and intended for careful display rather than handling. Please review the photographs closely and contact me with any questions before purchasing.
Carefully packed for shipment.
All sales are final.
(Antique German spun-cotton stork, figural candy container, stork family folk art, baby birth keepsake, christening gift, European nursery collectible, composition bird figure, early twentieth-century German ornament, cardboard candy box)
