Collectible antique toy soldier type of toy of a male worker or laborer of some type, but we don't know what type. His hands are very curved in a manner that makes us believe that he was meant to 'carry' something, such as pushing a wheel barrow in front of him or carrying some sort of rods or stick type objects. We expect that he originally came with something to carry but when we got him from an older home they only had the figure and not anything he would have carried. On the underside are raised letters which, while some are very worn, say 'Britains Ltd, Proprietors, Made in England, Copyright', so he is a Britains figure.

We don't know if he was originally sold as a figure to be used with a train set or a village display (such as a Christmas village or Christmas scene display) or as part of some other old toy set or scene. He is definitely an old, antique or vintage piece, although we don't know his exact age (we are not toy dealers and just describe what we see). He is definitely made of a cast metal which we believe could be lead from similar pieces we've handled and seen. As such, we will only sell this piece to adult collectors, it should be handled with care and should not be given to children to play with due to concerns with lead exposure.

The man stands about 2 1/4 inches tall, 1 inch wide and 7/8 inches in depth at the base. There is a pin hole on the top of his head, which we believe was made in manufacture, from separating him from the mold in which he was made. We have provided 7 images to try and show from all sides and details for condition purposes, with the figure also shown with a quarter for size comparison. Please note that the white "hot spots" are reflections from the camera lighting. This lighting makes his coloring seem a little bit lighter & brighter than it is in person. You will see in the images from the sides that he, as made, is not standing straight but is leaning slightly forward (as one might expect if you were wheeling or pushing something).

While a fun piece, he clearly has been used and played with and shows his age, so he is not mint. There are no chips or breaks that we see. There is much paint wear, paint chipping/flaking including some paint near/under both of his arms which looks to be peeling upwards so it may flake off. There is paint wear on his face, hands and arms, and clothing with the gray base metal showing through. The bright camera lighting "blands out" some of the paint wear making some of it hard to see, but please understand it is there (a "rough" guess would be that 70%+ of his paint is still there). The paint looks original to us, he does not appear to have been repainted. There is also wear to the underside base on which the piece stands. We are selling this as is/as found. None of this is unexpected for an antique piece like this and supports its age.

A nifty addition for a collectors group of small vintage toy figures. Could be incorporated into an older train set or diorama or other display dealing with workers or working figures or American life in general.

Please note that we have many other lead toys listed separately for sale. If you wish to purchase more than one, please e-mail us before placing the order since the shipping information has been inputted for a purchase of just one and will not calculate the savings you would get when purchasing more than one shipped together in the same package (we will need to handle this for you).