Renate Müller began making toys in the early 1960s while studying at the Technical College for Applied Arts and Toy Design in Sonneberg, Germany. It all started with a homework assignment: Professer Helene Haeusler asked her class to create therapeutic toys for children with physical and occupational disabilities. Müller followed the assignment with years of testing, research, and internships at medical institutions. The designer’s resulting work is exquisitely detailed and hand sewn from natural materials to meet the highest standards of quality and durability. Her creations have been designed and made in the same fashion since 1967, inevitably grabbing the attention of collectors and design junkies all over the world.
Just recently, Müller has announced her retirement from toy making. In recognition and celebration of her life’s work, gallery R 20th Century in New York launched an exhibition of her rare vintage and exclusive contemporary designs last week, on view through January 4, 2011. The gallery’s founders and principals Evan Snyderman and Zesty Meyers first began collecting her work in 2005 when Syderman spotted an elephant and hippo in a boutique in Cologne.
Coarse textures and natural materials speak to the toys’ therapeutic intentions but also make them ideal for anyone. Textures and shapes activate sensory-motor stimulation, simple forms lend themselves to the imagination, and handles are study enough that even adults can sit, limb, or lie on the toy, promoting balance and coordination.
The exhibition includes many of what Müller calls simply “Therapeutic Toys,” all made from jute, leather, and wood and ranging from small to large in size. This series includes everything from crocodiles, rhinoceros, and hippopotami, to horses, giraffes, and birds, many from the 1970’s and several such as the horse and rhino dating as recent as 2009 and 2010. Less prolific, the city of Weimar commissioned a series of 18 Weimar Bears, each in jute, leather, and wooden teeth and embroidered with the message “Children know no borders,” intended for partner cities as part of a marketing package about Weimar in 1992. More information on the exhibition can be found at R 20th Century, 212-343-7979; http://r20thcentury.com/.
Equally whimsical and similarly crafted from high quality materials, toys from VandM.com dealers are a treasure chest harmonizing shape, color, and form – although we can’t speak to their therapeutic qualities unless scratching the collectors bug counts as therapy. The extra-long arms or an original Kay Bojesen teak monkey have moving joints that allow it to sit, stand, or dangle. Offered by VandM.com dealer Mine. in LA, the monkey’s left foot is signed and states its origin as Denmark.
And from VandM.com dealer Albert Joseph Gallery in New Jersey, three vintage children’s wooden snow sleds come from northern China, the only place it snows in the entire nation. Difficult to date since these pieces were made in wood until the introduction of plastic in the 1950s, each sled features a neatly contoured seat the right size for toddlers. The raised seats make them a novelty for most of us – stateside sledding is done on everything from cafeteria trays to inner tubes and toboggans. Whatever your toy, we’re pretty sure Renate Müller herself wouldn’t object to the state of play on VandM.com.
