18th Century Wheeled Horse Pull Toys
The history of wheeled toy horses goes much further back than the 18th century; see examples from 1st-3rd century Akhmim, 1st-4th century Karanis, Gurob, and other Roman-era Egyptian wheeled horses, or even earlier in Ancient Greece.
The 18th century toy horses tend to be mounted on a small wheeled platform, rather than having the wheels directly attached to the horse’s legs. Some illustrations show accessories, especially little carts (Fürtreffeliche Bildung des Geiſtes und des Hertzens, portrait of an unknown family, and Visit to the Child at Nurse).
Portrait miniature of Richard Whitmore aged 3 by Bernard Lens, 1718
Rijksmuseum BK-14913-M, a miniature silver wagon with two horses, made by Willem van Strant, c. 1727-1742
Morning coffee by François Boucher, 1739
Le Colleur d’affiche by Étienne Jeaurat, c. 1740
Catherine-Félicité and Adélaïde Berthelin de Neuville by Carle van Loo, 1743
A group of ladies gathered at a table with a fortune teller by William Jones
Kinderspiel, c. 1751-1772
Pieter Alexander van Boetzelaer by Pierre Frédéric de la Croix, 1760
Mamma Giving Toys, c. 1760-1765
Saint Nicholas Day in the Imperial Family of Austria, 1762
Modern Love: Discordant Matrimony, 1765
Campegius Cornelis van der Straten by Pierre Frédéric de la Croix, 1766
John, Fourteenth Lord Willoughby de Broke, and His Family by Johann Zoffany, c. 1766
Kenau Catharina Wilhelmina Gevers Deynoot and Willem Theodore Gevers Deynoot by Isaac Lodewijk la Fargue van Nieuwland, 1769
Die Ernährung, Verpflegung der Kinder in Des Elementarbuchs für die Jugend, illustration by Daniel Chodowiecki, 1770
A toy horse and cart under the table in Fürtreffeliche Bildung des Geiſtes und des Hertzens, 1773
Maria Bezemer and Gerard Robert Castendijk by Pierre Frédéric de la Croix, 1776
Galerie des Modes, 7e Cahier, 6e Figure, 1778: Child’s governess in the home of People of Quality.
Portrait of a boy by Guillaume de Spinny, 1778
Mr Trade & family or the state of ye nation, 1779
Claas Veeckens with his family, c. 1779
Le petit Garçon, 1780
Hermanus Petrus te Nuys, Adriana Hakvoort, and their son Bernard Hendrik te Nuys by Isaac Lodewijk la Fargue van Nieuwland, c. 1781
A toy horse and wagon in a portrait of an unknown family by Johannes Zacharias Simon Prey
Hendrik Hoogers with his family, and Jan Broesterhuijsen by Hendrik Hoogers, 1783
Jantje and Bietja by Jan Brandes, 1784
Hermanus Petrus te Nuys, Adriana Hakvoort, and their son Bernard Hendrik te Nuys by Isaac Lodewijk la Fargue van Nieuwland, c. 1781
A wheeled toy horse and wagon in Visit to the child at nurse by George Morland, c. 1788
The Tea Garden by George Morland
A pull-toy carriage with Mrs. Benjamin Tallmadge and son Henry Floyd and daughter Maria Jones by Ralph Earl, 1790
Portrait of a young boy with his toys
Family portrait by Rienk Jelgerhuis, c. 1795-1798
The Visit Return’d To the Father in the Country, 1796
Aernout van Beeftingh, his wife Jacoba Maria Boon and their children by Nicolaes Muys, 1797
Geurt van den Boogaard, Cornelia Antonia Bonte, and their children by Rienk Jelgerhuis, c. 1797
Bernardus Warnerus Roessing, Agatha Maria in den Bosch, and their children by Rienk Jelgerhuis, 1797
Willem Anne Schimmelpenninck van der Oye by Johann Julius Heinsius, c. 1800-1805
Herzog Friedrich Emil August von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderborg-Augustenburg, gen. Prinz von Noer by Jens Juel, 1802
José Costa y Bonells, called Pepito by Goya, c. 1810