Julip Horses Ltd
Encyclopedia
Julip Horses Ltd is a United Kingdom
-based company which produces a range of 1/12-scale model
horse
s.
, using the lead
from London
buildings bombed during World War II
to make their legs. Five years later the company switched to making the horses out of latex
, the same material used to make the current line of Julip Originals. Dower sold the company in the 1950s. Models were sold from a shop in Beauchamp Place, London - part of the smart Knightsbridge shopping area and not far from Harrods.
Lead continued to be used to provide the support and flexibility in the legs of the latex horses until at least the early 1960s, when lead as a component of children's toys was banned in the UK for safety reasons.
Juip was just one of several companies producing cast-latex model horses in the 1950s and 1960s, but the only one to continue in business past 1968. The company's main rival was known as Isis, whose products were preferred by serious collectors of the period for their greater detail. Other companies included Pegasus and Otway, and in the late 1960s the internationally-renowned animalier
artist Pamela du Boulay began her sculpting career with a range of exquisite latex models sold under the 'Rydal' name.
The production process for latex models is simple, and similar to the early stages of pottery production. Plaster moulds are made from a 'master' model. When the plaster is completely dry, a mix of liquid latex and an inert 'filler' is poured into the mould and left to stand until a coating of latex has developed around the inside of the mould. The remaining liquid latex is poured away for reuse, and the casting allowed to dry out until it is firm enough to be removed from the mould. This part of the process is identical to the way ceramics are cast. With the casting removed, the plaster mould is left to dry out, and cannot be reused until 100% dry once more. Each casting progressively destroys the interior of the mould, so after a relatively limited number of casts, the mould has to be discarded and new ones made from the master. This explains why each individual Julip is different even from other examples of the same breed and from the same mould.
Once the casting is air-dry, it is then heat-cured or 'vulcanised'. This stabilises the latex, but if the vulcanising process is too short or carried out at too low a temperature, the latex can become unstable again - this is one of the reasons why Julips can become "gooey".
Julips were made at the Beauchamp Street premises until c.1968, when production moved to Romsey in Hampshire. Sales continued through Beauchamp Place, though now the ground floor of the shop became Julie Loughnan Children's Clothing and Julip moved into the now-legendary basement store premises, with its wallpaper depicting fashionable Victorian carriages. For many years, however, models appeared in an advertising case on the pavementin Beauchamp Place, at right-angles to the shop frontage and so easily visible to eager shoppers.
At this time the company was owned by a couple named Heath, who featured in an article on Julip which appeared in the 1973 PONY Magazine Annual.
Although Julip issued a detailed catalogue depicting all the models in their range in the mid 1960s, from 1967 onwards this was replaced by a typewritten sheet that simply listed the models and accessories, and which was a ccompanied by a printed sheet of photos which did not identify which model was which. This made shopping by mail order a complete lottery - customers were never exactly sure what they would receive until the sturdy brown cardboard box actually arrived.
During the 1980s the company was purchased by Annabel Levaux, and - after the introduction of mass-produced vinyl horses (Julip Horse of the Year - see below) - the latex range was relaunched as 'Julip Originals'. The Originals are now manufactured in the West Country.
Julip still make their models by hand in their workshop in Dorset
. Being made of latex, old Originals often have some age damage; common problems include worn paint and gummy or brittle latex. This particularly affects the feet, ears, and nose, so the vintage models need lots of care and gentle handling. Today, Julips can be ordered through the main office to your specifications in a mould and colour of your choice. They can even be copied from pictures of real horses or drawings. As they are handmade none are alike.
Latex Julips should be stored away from sources of heat (e.g. radiators) and sunlight - both heat and ultra-violet light "rot" rubber. Julips exposed to these conditions either dry out and become powdery ("perish"), or become gooey. Gooey models can be re-stabilised by storage in a dark, cold place for some time, but the process make take up several years to complete. A 'quick fix' for minor gooey spots is to apply superglue (cyanoacrylate adhesive) to the affected area, but this is not always a long-term cure and glue application may have to be repeated after some years.
Fabric should NEVER be applied to gooey areas of latex, as it is almost impossible to remove without further damage and makes proper restoration at a later date much more complicated.
In 1989 a new range of Julip horses was launched: the Horse of the Year range. These models were much more solid, being made first of rubber and then of solid plastic, making them much more durable for play than the Originals. Some of this range are sold with accessories, and other miniature stable-yard accessories are available separately. Models have been made in this range as portraits of real horses, such as Horse and Pony's Freddie, Mousie, one of the Julip Director Annabel's own horses or Ted the Clysedale foal. Some of these portrait models, such as ILPH Bob the Cob, have been sold with some of the profits going to the charity. Currently on sale is the set Rosie and Rocket, some of the profits of which are going to the Mark Davies Injured Riders Fund. Also, in the Originals range, there is a Welsh Cob model of "Oliver" who is being sold to raise funds for the RDA.
Many Julip collectors customise the cheaper, less valuable HOTYs and a few dare to have a go at Originals. They can be rehaired, resculpted and repainted as well as any other model and new paintjobs by someone good with a paint brush can go far in the CTF (craft toy foundation) of model horse shows
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-based company which produces a range of 1/12-scale model
Scale model
A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...
horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s.
Overview
In 1945, Lavender Dower (d. 2003) began making model horses out of chamois leatherChamois leather
Chamois leather , sometimes known as a shammy, is a type of porous leather that is favored for its gentle, non-abrasive composition and exceptional absorption properties...
, using the lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
buildings bombed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to make their legs. Five years later the company switched to making the horses out of latex
Latex
Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...
, the same material used to make the current line of Julip Originals. Dower sold the company in the 1950s. Models were sold from a shop in Beauchamp Place, London - part of the smart Knightsbridge shopping area and not far from Harrods.
Lead continued to be used to provide the support and flexibility in the legs of the latex horses until at least the early 1960s, when lead as a component of children's toys was banned in the UK for safety reasons.
Juip was just one of several companies producing cast-latex model horses in the 1950s and 1960s, but the only one to continue in business past 1968. The company's main rival was known as Isis, whose products were preferred by serious collectors of the period for their greater detail. Other companies included Pegasus and Otway, and in the late 1960s the internationally-renowned animalier
Animalier
An animalier is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists...
artist Pamela du Boulay began her sculpting career with a range of exquisite latex models sold under the 'Rydal' name.
The production process for latex models is simple, and similar to the early stages of pottery production. Plaster moulds are made from a 'master' model. When the plaster is completely dry, a mix of liquid latex and an inert 'filler' is poured into the mould and left to stand until a coating of latex has developed around the inside of the mould. The remaining liquid latex is poured away for reuse, and the casting allowed to dry out until it is firm enough to be removed from the mould. This part of the process is identical to the way ceramics are cast. With the casting removed, the plaster mould is left to dry out, and cannot be reused until 100% dry once more. Each casting progressively destroys the interior of the mould, so after a relatively limited number of casts, the mould has to be discarded and new ones made from the master. This explains why each individual Julip is different even from other examples of the same breed and from the same mould.
Once the casting is air-dry, it is then heat-cured or 'vulcanised'. This stabilises the latex, but if the vulcanising process is too short or carried out at too low a temperature, the latex can become unstable again - this is one of the reasons why Julips can become "gooey".
Julips were made at the Beauchamp Street premises until c.1968, when production moved to Romsey in Hampshire. Sales continued through Beauchamp Place, though now the ground floor of the shop became Julie Loughnan Children's Clothing and Julip moved into the now-legendary basement store premises, with its wallpaper depicting fashionable Victorian carriages. For many years, however, models appeared in an advertising case on the pavementin Beauchamp Place, at right-angles to the shop frontage and so easily visible to eager shoppers.
At this time the company was owned by a couple named Heath, who featured in an article on Julip which appeared in the 1973 PONY Magazine Annual.
Although Julip issued a detailed catalogue depicting all the models in their range in the mid 1960s, from 1967 onwards this was replaced by a typewritten sheet that simply listed the models and accessories, and which was a ccompanied by a printed sheet of photos which did not identify which model was which. This made shopping by mail order a complete lottery - customers were never exactly sure what they would receive until the sturdy brown cardboard box actually arrived.
During the 1980s the company was purchased by Annabel Levaux, and - after the introduction of mass-produced vinyl horses (Julip Horse of the Year - see below) - the latex range was relaunched as 'Julip Originals'. The Originals are now manufactured in the West Country.
Julip still make their models by hand in their workshop in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
. Being made of latex, old Originals often have some age damage; common problems include worn paint and gummy or brittle latex. This particularly affects the feet, ears, and nose, so the vintage models need lots of care and gentle handling. Today, Julips can be ordered through the main office to your specifications in a mould and colour of your choice. They can even be copied from pictures of real horses or drawings. As they are handmade none are alike.
Latex Julips should be stored away from sources of heat (e.g. radiators) and sunlight - both heat and ultra-violet light "rot" rubber. Julips exposed to these conditions either dry out and become powdery ("perish"), or become gooey. Gooey models can be re-stabilised by storage in a dark, cold place for some time, but the process make take up several years to complete. A 'quick fix' for minor gooey spots is to apply superglue (cyanoacrylate adhesive) to the affected area, but this is not always a long-term cure and glue application may have to be repeated after some years.
Fabric should NEVER be applied to gooey areas of latex, as it is almost impossible to remove without further damage and makes proper restoration at a later date much more complicated.
In 1989 a new range of Julip horses was launched: the Horse of the Year range. These models were much more solid, being made first of rubber and then of solid plastic, making them much more durable for play than the Originals. Some of this range are sold with accessories, and other miniature stable-yard accessories are available separately. Models have been made in this range as portraits of real horses, such as Horse and Pony's Freddie, Mousie, one of the Julip Director Annabel's own horses or Ted the Clysedale foal. Some of these portrait models, such as ILPH Bob the Cob, have been sold with some of the profits going to the charity. Currently on sale is the set Rosie and Rocket, some of the profits of which are going to the Mark Davies Injured Riders Fund. Also, in the Originals range, there is a Welsh Cob model of "Oliver" who is being sold to raise funds for the RDA.
Many Julip collectors customise the cheaper, less valuable HOTYs and a few dare to have a go at Originals. They can be rehaired, resculpted and repainted as well as any other model and new paintjobs by someone good with a paint brush can go far in the CTF (craft toy foundation) of model horse shows
Model horse showing
Model horse showing is a hobby built around the collection of scale model horses, with equal focus on honoring the horse show industry as well as the artistic merit of the miniatures.- Classes & Divisions :...
.
External links
- http://homepage.mac.com/louvanuk Havillands - a Julip collector's website. Very informative, including restoration advice
- Julip Horses official website
- Julips Online is an informative website offering further information about the Julip range
- Topaz Sunset Stables a less informative site by a young collector
- kingstone stables a julip collector's website.
- Brandywine Stables Brandywine Stables a Julip collector's website