ANRI
General Information
The variety of
items made by the ANRI company from 1912 to the middle 1960s is mind boggling.
In 1995 I acquired copies of most ANRI catalogs from the first one through
1965. The first catalog has 112 pages and is printed in 5 languages: Italian,
English, French, German and Spanish.
Included within
the pages are literally thousands of illustrations including:
Figurines
(up to 14" tall) door knockers, match holders, toys, pin cushions, bookends,
salt boxes, humidors, ink wells, ash trays, wall shelves, wall hooks, thermometers,
menu and place card holders, nutcrackers, paper knives, letter openers,
bookmarks, mustard & salt spoons,and scoops, salad sets (spoons &
forks,) napkin rings, toothpick and match holders,bottle stoppers, bottle
openers, corkscrews, salt & pepper shakers, ring boxes,pens (for inserting
pen nibs,) pencil point protectors, pipes,
door wedges, Crèches (Nativity scenes,)shadow boxes (dioramas),
dresser boxes, jewelry boxes, nesting dolls, sewing kits, pepper mills,
candle holders, bowls, trinket boxes, desk sets with ink wells, egg cups,
wooden shoes, stick pins, and wedding, and other, cake toppers.
That list
should give you a good indication of what you have ahead of you if you're
serious about learning all you can.
All the pieces
in my collection are figural, meaning they have carved heads, or full figures,
of people or animals. There are people in native costumes, dressed
up, dressed down, musicians, clowns, monks, men, women, children, chickens,
ducks, monkeys, deer, birds of all kinds, rabbits, goats, sheep, dozens
of breeds of dogs, and cats, mice,
pigs, cows...and those are the ones I can name without even looking.
I'm not going
to go into the history of the ANRI company in
Val
Gardena, St. Cristina, or tell you about Anton Riffeser, the man who
founded the company in 1912. You can read about all that at the ANRI
home page.
You can also
visit the ANRI Message Board
which is hosted by ANRI Art in Italy. It features links for posting
questions about ANRI carvings, and has a research department at your service.
They do not respond quickly, however, so be patient.
Instead, on
my website I'm going to share what I've learned from almost 20 years of
collecting, talking to other collectors, and by visiting the ANRI Company
in June, 1998.
It's my thought
that you'll enjoy learning by seeing pictures instead of from reading a
bunch of boring copy. Be patient, please. Photos take time
to load, and these are photo filled pages, but I think you'll find them
entertaining.
Should you
decide to become a collector, if you aren't already, you'll fall in love
with their faces and craftsmanship, and want to keep them for your children,
and their children.
For
even more information, be sure and order "ANRI
Woodcarvings," a collectors reference and price guide. Order now and
get an autographed copy at a discount!
If you have any questions, please check my FAQ
page first. If your don't find your answer there, feel free to
email
me.
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