Carousel Dogs—Old and New

DogPatch

On the block: Herschell Spillman Carousel Dog, American, Country Fair Style. Estimate: $15,000
One of five Carousel Greyhounds, in the style of Charles Looff, up for auction on Sunday. Estimate: $4,000
Carousel Greyhound, in the style of Charles Looff, American, Coney Island Style. Fine, older paint. No estimate.
Joshua (top) and Petal carved by Tim Racer and painted by Pam Hessey. One figure can take Racer up to 600 hours to carve.
Joshua and Petal were commissioned by Jane Berkey. They were the inspiration for her to found Animal Farm Foundation (AFF).
Last week, Tim Racer took the recently completed Joshua to New York to be mounted with Petal in true carousel-style.

On September 25, five dog figures will be among the carousel animals up for auction at Guernsey’s auctioneers in New York City. Listed are four Greyhounds “in the style of Charles Looff” and a Spaniel by Herschell Spillman. As fans of carousel animal carvings, especially rare and delightful canine figures, we wanted to know a little more about what will be on the block, so we called Tim Racer, a carousel figure carver in Oakland, Calif. He gave us his appraisal (read our Q&A) and, to our delight, shared images of his just-completed creation—a fabulous pair of carousel Pit Bulls for Jane Berkey, founder of Animal Farm Foundation (AFF) in upstate New York.

Photos of vintage carousel animals from Guernseys.com. Photos of Petal and Joshua by Tim Racer.

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