This and the following catalog page images are from a rare German catalog of wooden toys, dating from the 1840's. The pictures are lithographed and hand-colored. 19th century merchants made such catalogs of cottage industry products. Each illustration of this catalog is hand-colored with hand-written descriptions. The arks are priced by the dozen, which shows that the catalog was meant for retailers, not for individual customers.

Image courtesy of Lars Rasmussen of Copenhagen, Denmark

Flat-bottom Ark

Image courtesy of Lars Rasmussen of Copenhagen, Denmark

Boat-bottom Ark
Many of the animals and most of the birds are products of the imaginations of the artisans. In the 1840s, few Europeans had ever seen African or Asian animals.

Image courtesy of Lars Rasmussen of Copenhagen, Denmark