Knight Balance Toy
Dimensions: 14 x 2 x 21 inches
The highlight of the annual jousting festival in the city of Angoulême, France, was when the Duc d'Anjou expertly picked up the red scarf. The impact was hard to exaggerate, the spectator crowd collectively held it's breath to observe consequences. Unique conditions prevailed and all worked in the Duc's favor. A bright sun, the home front's decisive victory. A bottle of excellent aged claret next to the Princess's father, the King. The Duc and his Princess became famous in posterity as a romantic pair of courtly lovers. His sword and her silk scarf are displayed in a dedicated room of the National Treasury.
Using sharp chisels, craftsmen cut the steel plate into shape and hammer the edges. Others bend, cast and attach the wire hung counterweight and check balance and swing. Village painters hand paint faces and important details. Apprentices do base paint and more mundane details. The distressed finish is the result of an old and proven system of combined layers of paint of slightly different composition. The final step is a hand rub with dark colored beeswax giving it the final finish and feel. In the manner of their antique predecessors, our balance toys are true originals.