Oh no, I thought as the auctioneer started moving disparate items into a lot. He was desperately trying to sell some unsellable junk on the auction table and no one was biting.
First, he slid over a red plastic tool chest filled with colored light bulbs (you know, the ones we disco-ed to in the ‘70s). No takers. Then, four repro Coca Cola and other toy trucks. No takers. He was getting pretty close to what I wanted: About 10 pairs of onyx and brass earrings on a felt board.
Then, two tall wooden towers with carved figures on three tiers. I really didn’t want that. I had looked at them during my walk-through of the auction house and couldn’t figure out what they were. No takers. Finally, he moved my earrings to the lot, and I had to go for it. Anybody want it now, he asked. $5. I found a large box and piled all the crap into it. (Click on the photo above to see a full view of the towers.)
Looking through the box at home, I was intrigued by the towers, which looked like carousels. I glanced at them again, but I did not “look” at them. They were hand-made – one was natural wood, the other stained and a little darker. At the top of each was a circular piece with small round holes.
When I picked up the carousels, the center rod twirled and the carved people on each of the three tiers circled the axis. I kept twirling and twirling, as fascinated as a child standing in front of a real carousel. I was then determined to find out what these actually were.
Still, though, I was not looking closely enough at the figures and the story they were telling. Not even when a little baby fell out of its crib in one of the carousels and I super-glued it back in. I noticed that the stained tower had a burn mark, so I figured it had been near a candle or something else with a flame.
I searched the bottom of each piece for a maker’s mark to start my Google search. Nothing. At the top of one were three Asian women with trumpets. An Asian carousel? Couldn’t find one in Google images. The simple word “carousel” turned up nothing, either.
I was now both dumbfounded and truly determined. A friend, who’s also my handyman, noticed the carousels on my porch. Looks like a toy, he offered. I examined them again and found the word Germany faintly stamped on the bottom of the stained one.
I finally had a place to start. German carousel toy. Eureka. I found it. They are alternately called German, Christmas, windmill or carousel pyramids. The ones I saw in Google had propellers at the top (that’s what the circular piece for the holes was for. Mine were missing the propellers!).
The first ones I saw, though, did not resemble mine. So, I kept looking at other images. The photo at left (taken by Tamorlan) shows what mine should look like. Here are examples of other pyramids.
I learned that Christmas pyramids go back to the 16th century, and some say they may have been the forerunners of the Christmas tree. By the 18thcentury, they were associated with the miners and woodcrafters in the Erzgebirge or Ore Mountains region in eastern Germany and are still handcrafted there. Simpler in their early form, they were made to be enjoyed at Christmas time, and most still have a Christmas theme. (I went back to look at my pyramids more closely and lo and behold, they do have a Christmas motif: baby Jesus in the manger, the wise men, shepherds with their sheep – how did I miss all that?) Some, though, do have designs of everyday life of the people of Erzgebirge, along with nature scenes.
They are traditionally made of wood, with four to eight-sided platforms and several tiers. In the center is a long pole that turns. I found that mine were also missing the small platforms that extended from the bottom with candle-holders on the ends. The heat from the lighted candles turned the propellers. Some are made with electric motors.
Large version of the pyramids are erected in Christmas markets in some German cities, including this twirling pyramid in Braunschweiger. There’s also one here in the United States, a 26-foot tall structure in Fredericksburg, TX.
Since one of my pyramids has a German stamp, I’m assuming they were handcrafted there. I could buy the candle-holders on the web for $12 each, a box of mini candles for $8, and the propellers (or fan assembly) for about $20. That’s nothing compared to some of the prices I found for the pyramids – up to $500.
After I bought the pyramids, an auction-goer walked up to where they still sat on the table and asked if they had been sold. I indifferently said yes, but I did not mention that I had bought them. I’m glad I didn’t offer to hand them over to him. I would have missed the fun of discovering what they were.
I never know what history I’ll find behind the items I stumble across at auctions. That’s what makes auctions so divine.
