World's Columbian Exposition--Collection of Doll/Miniature Furniture--Set #1

I have never seen a definitive answer about the market/buyers for these products. One could easily just say they're doll furniture and leave it at that. They may well be, as so many items were quite intricate and fancy. The world of toys in 1893 was a tad different than it is today. Over the years I have seen speculation that they were sold as souvenirs, not toys.

Collectibles of all types were sold at the Columbian Expo. Far more than actual toys. This furniture may well have been strictly for display. The unique metal is soft like solder and quite easily bent. There is some logic on the side of these being toys, but perhaps more logic in that one would not want to have a child playing with such malleable metal toys. I have no idea if these could be bent/adjusted constantly or if too much of this would result in them breaking.

This is Set #1. This set is far more intricate than the other. This one has a ubiquitous Columbus landing scene on each piece; Set #2 has a simpler design.

I was fortunate to find an estate collection that contained two sets of 3 pieces each.
I have sold this furniture as sets and individual pieces over the yerars, perhaps a total of 3 or 4 sales. They're very rare. I have not had the fancier (Columbus) set before; each of the others I had and sold previously had ribbon woven between the bars and design loops.

With such a small sample over so many years, I hesitate to say they were created in one specific manner or the other. Both sets consist of pieces. This one is all chairs. Set $2 has a straight back chair, a rocking chair and a setee. Because they are such soft metal the seat cushions come out too easily. The last time I sold a 3-piece set was at least 10 years ago and it brought almost $100 per piece; I believe it was $275 or so for the set.

If one person happens to purchase both sets I should be able to ship for just one $12 charge and nothing for the other.