Gang of Eight Old German Erzgebirge Wooden Animals unusual antique school slate and it is on a

and it is on a matte wove type stock

3 1/2" across at handle

great from head to toe--from those hand-painted black and white eyes almost on the very top of its head

and clearly a heart-felt

The piece is by  Edwin Willard Deming (1860–1942)

Gang of Eight Old German Erzgebirge Wooden Animals unusual antique school slate and it is on aI just can't resist these old German animals when I find them except when they are exorbitantly priced, as they sometimes are, as these have become pretty precious. This gang I would think merges a few from a Noah's Arc set (the camel at least!) with a few others from a farm set. Certainly the little white one with red collar is a dog, and the pink one a pig, and I think there's a black sheep too, but I'm not completely certain about the rest! Sold as