| Vintage Sports Collector |
| Click Images to Enlarge |
Pair of c.1950 Anri Hand Carved Wood College Mascot Cornell Figures - 2 1/2 inches tall
The Anri company, founded by Anton Riffeser in 1912 in Italy, is today world-renowned for its hand carved and hand painted figurines. Anton Riffeser named the
company Anri using the first two letters of his first and last name. They make wood carved figurines of all sorts, and are best known for their religious statues.
ANRI college mascot figures are wood hand-carved figures, made in the 1950s, that resemble the works of Carter-Hoffman. They were made in various sizes for
many colleges and included 5” mascots, 2.5” and 1.5” mini mascots, as well letter openers, cork toppers and pipe stands with Mascots.
Like Carter-Hoffman, Anri made a number of different mascots and many of the schools are repeated with the mascots between the two makers being remarkably
similar. It is not known who copied who - as the ANRI company certainly pre-dated Carter-Hoffman. What we do know is that the workmanship of both companies
is beautiful and that both series of figurines can be easily displayed together. Carter Hoffman statues have Carter Hoffman Original stamped on the bottom, while
Anri's have a stamp that reads "Italy".
Link: Photos of Carter Hoffman and Anri College Mascots
The Anri company, founded by Anton Riffeser in 1912 in Italy, is today world-renowned for its hand carved and hand painted figurines. Anton Riffeser named the
company Anri using the first two letters of his first and last name. They make wood carved figurines of all sorts, and are best known for their religious statues.
ANRI college mascot figures are wood hand-carved figures, made in the 1950s, that resemble the works of Carter-Hoffman. They were made in various sizes for
many colleges and included 5” mascots, 2.5” and 1.5” mini mascots, as well letter openers, cork toppers and pipe stands with Mascots.
Like Carter-Hoffman, Anri made a number of different mascots and many of the schools are repeated with the mascots between the two makers being remarkably
similar. It is not known who copied who - as the ANRI company certainly pre-dated Carter-Hoffman. What we do know is that the workmanship of both companies
is beautiful and that both series of figurines can be easily displayed together. Carter Hoffman statues have Carter Hoffman Original stamped on the bottom, while
Anri's have a stamp that reads "Italy".
Link: Photos of Carter Hoffman and Anri College Mascots
Carter Hoffman mascots are depicted on the cover and listed for sale inside the front cover of this 1954 Ivy League football program. |
Carter Hoffman:
Hoffman was a well-known artist from Los Angeles who made these hand carved mascots for various Ivy League and other colleges in the 1950s. Hoffman also did
some mascots for professional sports teams and even some lesser know and more obscure schools. Sold under the name “Carter Hoffman Artcraft” they have become
highly collectible. A brochure from the 1950s lists over 120 different schools that they made mascots for.
Carter-Hoffman Artcraft was a company that operated out of Los Angeles, California in the late 40's/early 50's. They specialized in making hand carved wooden college
mascots. Schools would design and order these mascot figurines to be sold in their book stores and sporting events. The statues came in several different sizes and
were even made into bottle pour spouts. The most common size of the statues were 5" x 5" x 2". The suggested retail price at the time was $3.95. Larger statues
measuring 8" x 10" x 4" had a suggested price of $15. This was not cheap for that time period considering that packs of baseball cards sold for as little as 5 cents.
The statues themselves are somewhat crude and have a "folk art" look and appeal. The more you look at them and the more you see- the more you can appreciate the
workmanship that went into each and every one.
Links to more Information on Carter Hoffman Mascot Figurines:
http://vintagemascots.weebly.com/carter-hoffman.html
https://collectableivy.wordpress.com/category/carter-hoffman-collectibles/
https://insidetheparkcollectibles.com/viewblogarticle.aspx?blogid=4
Hoffman was a well-known artist from Los Angeles who made these hand carved mascots for various Ivy League and other colleges in the 1950s. Hoffman also did
some mascots for professional sports teams and even some lesser know and more obscure schools. Sold under the name “Carter Hoffman Artcraft” they have become
highly collectible. A brochure from the 1950s lists over 120 different schools that they made mascots for.
Carter-Hoffman Artcraft was a company that operated out of Los Angeles, California in the late 40's/early 50's. They specialized in making hand carved wooden college
mascots. Schools would design and order these mascot figurines to be sold in their book stores and sporting events. The statues came in several different sizes and
were even made into bottle pour spouts. The most common size of the statues were 5" x 5" x 2". The suggested retail price at the time was $3.95. Larger statues
measuring 8" x 10" x 4" had a suggested price of $15. This was not cheap for that time period considering that packs of baseball cards sold for as little as 5 cents.
The statues themselves are somewhat crude and have a "folk art" look and appeal. The more you look at them and the more you see- the more you can appreciate the
workmanship that went into each and every one.
Links to more Information on Carter Hoffman Mascot Figurines:
http://vintagemascots.weebly.com/carter-hoffman.html
https://collectableivy.wordpress.com/category/carter-hoffman-collectibles/
https://insidetheparkcollectibles.com/viewblogarticle.aspx?blogid=4