Three Giants, Born of Earth and Sky

Leave it to Greek mythology to give one a literary parallel when it is most needed. The three giants that defeated the Titans were the Hekatonheires: Cottus, the Striker; Gyges, the Big-Limbed; Briareus, the Vigorous. I could not have come up with more fitting names for the three giant molds in today's post. They were the children of Earth (Gaia) and Sky (Uranus). These giants are indeed composed of earthenware, and compared to their puny 1:9 scale counterparts, they do seem to be partly of the sky. Or, rather, in it.

This fellow must be our giant Striker, Cottus.

24.25" tall x 15" wide, mold # H-114, photo courtesy D. Whitley.

Here is Gyges, whose limbs are, indeed, thicker than the others.

24" tall x 18" wide, mold # H-11.

Reviewing the April post about the Giant OF Lane Love horses, there was palpable excitement about the confirmation of the existence of both Giant Facing Right and Giant Facing Left (Leg-Out). I had mold numbers, and everything! Within 24 hours of posting that doozy, I found a third Giant mold while surfing the net. It's almost become a tradition that new data appears in my inbox, or is under my nose at the flea market, the day after I click the Publish button, so this Giant didn't utterly destroy my village. I'm used to it.

I dub thee, "Briareus", you vigorous beast.

24" tall x 16" wide, mold # H-114

Hey, that's very familiar. Didn't we just see two slightly different 14" versions of this guy? Yes, apparently the Mustard glaze isn't the only big-and-little set Lane produced. Here are the wee versions, again. The giant has different mane and tail details, foreleg attachment, base, and facial profile. It is a derivation, not a whole new sculpt by Maureen's hand.

The 14" tall mold version is numbered 1155.

What is even more familiar is his mold number. Yes, he has the same mold number incised as the version from which he is derived. The moldmaker forgot to add the next number, perhaps? Or maybe this H-114 replaced the Leg-Out Giant?

To review, the underside of the Leg-Out Giant # H-114.

Now, my big pal Briareus was in an online ad for sale, at a proper price for his size and condition (not mint), but he had also had a giant downside. He was in Fargo, ND and the seller would not ship. Heck, the seller was reluctant to even speak more than a couple words on the phone. How to rescue this piece and bring it to collector awareness?

Enter the awesome power of the model horse collector network. I had just completed a custom glaze commission for collector in a neighboring state. I sent her an email asking if she knew any hobbyists in the Fargo, ND area who might be able to pick up and ship this mighty fellow. To my astonishment, she wrote back quickly and introduced me to MaryJo Rust.

What is even more amazing is that MaryJo, a plastic collector with a self-admitted fear of clinkies, was quick to volunteer. When she arrived the first time at the seller's, she discovered that the horse was not mint. The ad did not mention damage, so she dutifully returned home and described it in detail, via email. When I gave her the go-ahead to purchase, even with the flaws, she went back and bought him without asking me to send funds in advance. When people talk about heroes in our hobby, and the community spirit  that is at the heart of the collecting network, MaryJo leaps to my mind as one of those heroines! Who takes on such a Herculean, or Heraclean,  feat for a stranger, across the country? A model horse collector, that's who!

Meanwhile, I received these photos of a custom glazed hobby mold of the giant Bil-Mar #524 Large Rearing Horse from collector Myla Pearce:

She wrote: "I just can't imagine how hard it must have been to clean these huge pieces when green and then firing them. This guy is glass smooth and the green colors are so pretty and colorful. I just can't believe how BIG he is!

"I'm so glad you have this blog, I would have never known about these pieces otherwise.

"I found it while surfing ebay. At first I thought it was the smaller version then realized the whole piece was different, but there is no denying that head is a Love sculpt. :-) I was thrilled to discover it was the huge version! Since I just lost my Friesian stallion and this was a gorgeous glossy black like my boy I decided to treat myself to this piece in his memory."

And here is an OF Lane 239 version 2 (17") in a glaze that is new to me.

Recalibrate your retinas at your leisure. While you wait, here is the range from Mustard to Caramel on H-1 versions 1 and 2.

More OF colors have come to light, and I'll save sharing those for the next Lane update. I am going to have more time for blogging after BreyerFest!



References

eBay.com

Pearce, Myla. Pers. comm. 5/4-5/2012.

Yeah, I know it's Wikipedia, but that is it, in a nutshell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hekatonkheires