In 2017, an all-new Bonzo has
been produced by the world-renowned R. John
Wright Dolls, Inc of Vermont. It has joined a long
line of their exquisitely modelled dolls, animals &
characters, all beautifully
designed and hand crafted. Not only have they
instantly become the latest must-have collectable in the
Bonzo range, but also they are one of the best examples of
a lifelike Bonzo one can find.
Below is an exclusive article by R. John Wright himself,
written specially for this site, about how his company
came to create their Bonzo, together with never-before
seen production line photos.
Setting
the Bar Very High!
By
R. John Wright
R. John Wright shares the story
behind the creation of his latest
masterpiece: Bonzo
Bonzo was a licensing
sensation in the 1920's and leading stuffed
toy manufacturers vied to be given a chance
to produce him. Samples were made and submitted
and in 1927, Bonzo's creator, George
Studdy, chose the Chad Valley company in
the UK to produce the beloved pup. As we became
familiar with Bonzo's history, we were
compelled to try our hand at making a Bonzo
ourselves.
We've always chosen
things that we love in the hope that others will
respond to them too - even if they weren't
familiar with them
beforehand. In the case of Bonzo, many
people know they've seen him before,
they just don't know what his name is! We
also enjoy bringing to light characters and
images from other time periods. It's a
treat to introduce these classic images to a new
generation and Bonzo is a perfect example of
this.
As part of our research
and development, we acquired a number of vintage
postcards featuring Bonzo as well as a few rare
books on the history of the character. In
the process we were discovered by serious Bonzo
aficionados including Richard Fitzpatrick [the owner
of this Bonzo website]
who helped us greatly with his
expertise. One world-class collector, Mel
Birnkrant, also shared his legendary collection
of comic characters including a vast array of
vintage Bonzo merchandise. Looking over
the merchandise produced over the years, there
are several figurines or sculptural renditions
of Bonzo which are quite good.
However, in the realm of plush many of the
sculptural details are missing.
Our goal was to bring together the
dimensionality of the sculpted pieces with the
cuddly warmth of the stuffed animals. The
early plush manufacturers used a combination of
painting and sewing to evoke the Bonzo
illustrations. Because of our experience
sculpting and molding we are able to bring a
heightened 3rd dimension to the
character—something that's never been done
before in plush.
Bonzo's creator, G. E. Studdy,
was an excellent draftsman and it's obvious
that his drawings are based on real-life
dogs. So we used his artwork as our
primary reference point.
The Studdy drawings themselves
are filled with personality and we worked hard
to capture that in our design.
Two photos of the clay sculpt
Bonzo
Once we
completed our sculpt of Bonzo we had it scanned for
posterity with a 3D scanner.
This technology will enable us to do different sizes if
we decide to. This is the first time we have done
this and it opens up some exciting possibilities.
We're not completely sure at this point, but Bonzo has
big blue eyes and it would be fun to do an open-eye
version of him. A smaller-size Bonzo is another
possibility as collectors seem to gravitate
towards small items these days.
The process begins
with drawings which are referred to in sculpting the
character to-scale in clay. The clay parts (which
are often cast in hard modeller’s wax for refined
finishing) are sent to a foundry for the creation of
metal molds. The molds are used in production to
insure continuity and accuracy. Parts are sewn,
molded, stuffed, jointed and painted. Upon
completion, a small brass rivet marked ‘RJW’ is affixed
to each as a permanent mark of authenticity.
Fitting
the nails to the forearms
Limb connecting discs and
un-stuffed bodies
Trays
full of legs
Bodies
stuffed with cotton, ready for limb attachment
Molded
heads ready for painting
Every head is hand-painted
Heads and collars are
attached to the limbed bodies
Completed Bonzos all ready for boxing and shipping out
to their new homes!
Our Bonzo is
5-way jointed - including a swivel & tilt
neck - so he can assume many playful poses. He is
constructed of wool plush and felt and artistically
airbrushed and painted by hand. He is produced in
a very small limited edition of 250 numbered
pieces. He may be purchased directly from our
company store or from any of our authorized dealers
worldwide.
We operate a very
unusual company which I call an 'Artist-controlled
Production. We've been
in business for forty years and during that time
very little has changed about how we do things.
Not only do we choose and design each and every project,
but we also personally oversee the production so that
each piece in the edition meets our exacting standards.
Our work began with
dolls and soon branched out to include animals of all
kinds. We specialize in the unique medium of
molded felt and plush. The fact that we make
dolls, bears, and animals provides us with a great
deal of variety. Our extensive work in licensing
also opens new markets to us. We pride ourselves
in successfully translating well-known characters from
2-dimension to 3-dimension. In doing this we
strive to make the most 'definitive' version of a
classic character. All
work is performed on-site at our workshop in southern
Vermont by our talented team of approximately 20
artisans, many of whom have been working for us for
decades.
