An Ostheimer Collection Passed Down Through Generations

Dear Catherine, thank you for inviting me into your home and sharing the stories behind your Ostheimer collection. As a collector myself, it was a pleasure to hold familiar pieces while hearing the history behind them and the connection they created between your children and their grandmother. Moments like this remind me that the toys our children play with today may one day be passed down, carrying their own stories into the next generation. There is something very special in what Ostheimer are doing with their beautiful, handcrafted toys.

The connection here was between your mother Heather, who had a love for handmade toys, and your children and their cousins, who she loved to gift to.

How old were your children when they first received an Ostheimer piece from their grandmother?

1997 is when it all started! When I think back to when the children were little, I realise that this collection of toys did not belong to any individual child, but were collectively given by Granny to the whole group of eleven grandchildren.

Do your children remember being given these toys?

They do! The children were occasionally invited to take a favourite item home for a while, but they found their way back to Granny’s house eventually.

Were the toys wrapped and given, or did they magically appear on nature tables?

My children loved going to Granny’s house and discovering a new figure that had magically appeared among the older ones! New additions came at random intervals, simply appearing on the toy shelf ready to be discovered by whichever of the grandchildren visited next.

The children were often present all together and somehow (perhaps because they did not feel ownership), I don’t ever remember there being any conflict in the sharing of the toys.

Did these toys have a special place in your home while your children were growing up?

The toys were all kept on a large set of three shelves in the living room, and mostly they were left out as the children had played with them. Occasionally they would magically busy themselves into different scenes and groups, which often inspired a new way of playing with them when the children arrived!

What is your favourite piece, and is it tied to a particular memory?

I particularly loved the knight figures and the horses they rode on, though sadly I am not sure where they are now, perhaps in storage with the castle! One for another day. Or the human figures you photographed today, I particularly love them because we used to tell fairy tales to the children using them. 

Something that I love about Ostheimer is that due of the nature of their toys being hand made, no two are the same. Have you ever noticed small differences between the pieces, your elephants for example?

I think the differences between the figures of the same type, such as the elephants, created the image of a family, everyone at different ages and stages, which echoed real life in our own family! If all the elephants had been the same, it might have been harder to imagine them as a family.

I smile as I look up to a shelf in your home and see a Dove and a little Robin, who has lost its tail. A Dog with teeth marks and a Piglet missing a leg. I wonder, do you still hold the stories of those markings? And I wonder if those tales are what stopped you from throwing out toys that could be considered broken?

The injured members of the collection are still valued, perhaps because the injuries were usually caused by one of granny’s dogs which were memories in themselves! It was accepted that occasionally pieces would be damaged and it never really lessened the play value, but perhaps offered an opportunity to play at being a vet! We never really thought of them as broken unless they were no longer recognisable or safe to play with.

Do you think children sense the care and craftsmanship behind handmade toys? If so, has that changed since your children played over twenty years ago?

I feel that the children understood that these toys were special. They always loved their wooden toys and still talk about the special pieces and books, that they got to play with and read at Granny’s house long ago. They don’t talk with the same nostalgia about the more mainstream plastic toys, and now as adults they have actually commented on how ugly a lot of the plastic toys they had were! None of the children batted an eyelid at the disposal of plastic or noisy toys with spent batteries, but there would have been major objections to the giving away of Granny’s toys! Just as there would have been at the disposal of much loved teddies! So perhaps the individual and unique nature of each handmade toy, fostered a sense of connection for each individual and unique child?

What do you hope your children will remember about playing with these toys?

I hope when my children have children of their own, that they will play with these toys knowing that they are a link to the great-grandmother they will never know. And that my children will remember the very special bond they had with my mum as they play together. I am so very attached to this collection, so much so that I may have to adopt my mum’s approach of the toys living with me, to be played with when my grandchildren come to visit!

Now your children are older and are building their lives independently of the family home, do you imagine this beautiful collection continuing to be passed down to future generations?

I really hope that the collection will stay with my children and their children. I was lucky that I became custodian of them, and I hope that they will be passed on and on indefinitely!

Interview and photos by Katie @apocketofforest