POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

'Hansel and Gretel' toy paper theatre by Schreiber

Object No. A7746

Schreiber paper theatres set the standard for German children's theatres in the 1880s in Europe. This paper theatre with its proscenium arch, sets, characters from several different stories and copy of 'Hansel and Gretel' is a fine and rare example of this speciality. It was purchased at auction in 1981 in Sydney, part of the Julian Robinson collection of toys and juvenalia. Julian and Renee Robinson began collecting from the 1950s when they were students at the Royal College of Art in London. Paper theatres were very popular during the 19th century and up until television was introduced. The sets and characters were cut out of books and paper sheets and strengthened with strips of wood so the characters stood up and could be moved around the stage according to the story depicted. It was common for father to direct the show, sons to move the characters and sets around and mother and the girls to be the audience. These theatres have become very popular collectables. Johann Ferdinand Schreiber (1809-1868) began his lithographic printing business in 1831 in Esslingden in Germany and his son Ferdinand (1835-1914), took over and expanded the business after Johann died in 1868. Lithographic paper theatre sheets had been produced from about 1830 by J.C.Wiinkelmann in Berlin. They were sold as postcards and in children's books. Johann Schrieber printed plays including Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, William Tell, and Little Red Riding Hood which were subsequently copied by Adolf Engel c1880 and reprinted in English by Morritz Gottshalk of Marienberg, Saxony. Ferdinand was able to improve the presentation of the sheets and plays and the results were considered far superior. He published two instruction books with technical information about paper theatres 'Das Kindertheater' by Hugo Elm 1886, and another by Max Eickmeyer in 1900. These set the standard for toy theatre design in Germany. Ferdinand working with his younger brother Max, aimed at a young market with a preference for children's stories. There was one character sheet per play except for his Aschenbrodel (Cinderella), Round the World in Eighty Days, The Fairy Doll. The lead characters would remain in the same clothing and pose throughout. Early sheets were hand coloured and scenes generic - wood, garden, town, room, village, castle etc and instructions were given as to which sheets should be used for a particular play. Schreiber Cut-out Sheets were also produced. They included, among others, dress-up dolls, Christmas cribs, models of ships and aeroplanes. By the late 1880s Ferdinand had enlisted 22 year old Munich stage designer Theodor Guggenberger (1866-1929) whose work was prolific. In 1880 Ernst Sievert published a book of nine plays which he wrote for Ferdinand but they had limitations with the stiff cardboard characters. Innocens Tallavania (1868-1934) wrote more practical scripts for at least 18 plays. In the late 1960s Pollock's Toy Museum discovered that Schrieber had ceased their operations and were destroying a large stock of sheets. They bought the stock then sorted and sold them for 3 pounds per 100 sheets. There were no complete plays but a large range of colour printed character sheets, scenes and sets in 2 sizes (36 x 43 small format and 43 x 54cm large format). This may explain why the characters from our theatre come from several different stories. Esslinger Verlag J. F. Schreiber GmbH has become one of the most important children's book publishers in Germany. Lindie Ward, Curator Decorative Arts, 2007