Dog Figurines

The lobby exhibit for March is a collection of dog figurines on loan from Joan Ziegler. The dog collection started when her great-grandmother gave her a set of porcelain dogs when Joan was five years old. Joan continued collecting these unique figurines until she graduated from high school. The collections includes over 450 figurines.

Many of the figurines were given to her by family and friends. Most of them were made in the United States, but some are from Germany, Holland, and France.

(Click image to enlarge)

This is the beginning of the collection. A set of three given to Joan by her great-grandmother.

 This was a gift from Joan's great aunt.

The German Shepherd was sent to Joan from her brother in 1947 while he was serving in the military in Germany.

The Walt Disney 'Pluto" is exceptional to the collection because he is plastic and also a bobble-head.

Although most of the dog figurines are made of porcelain or China, a few are wood, metal, crystal, or alabaster.

 

This newspaper item from the January 1, 1964 issue of "The Prairie Drummer" features Joan's collection as part of an "Interesting Hobbies" series of ads for Thomas County National Bank.

Stop at Prairie Museum of Art and History during the month of March to see this amazing collection. There is no admission to visit the lobby exhibit.