Here is the first aeroplane in the collection, a biplane seaplane featuring gleaming black engine cowlings.
These cowlings were marked ‘Meccano’, so I didn’t look any further; it was only later, whilst writing the book on toy aeroplanes, that I realised I’d got it wrong – it was actually a Mécavion toy.
This served as a lesson to me: identifying toys requires a great deal of care and patience, and a constant willingness to question one’s assumptions; the further I progress in this field, the more I realise how little I actually know about it.
1931 – 1935 , painted sheet metal, 40.5 x 34 cm
“Respice post te! Hominem te esse memento”