Thread: J.G. Escher & Son – More than hones

The Escher family in Sonneberg, Thuringia was a trading company for more than just hones. In the 19^th and beginning 20^th century Escher had a toy store in Sonneberg, which was his main line of business for a long time.

In the late 19^th and the beginning of 20th century Escher also began to produce toys.

He uses plastic material to fabricate dolls and got quite famous with this.
The following information shows an example. Also it states that the company trades under the name J.G. Escher and sons from the year 1906 on.






Means that also the hones labeled Escher & Sohn might be sold after 1906. I am not really sure about the exact date (other sources indicate an earlier use of the company name Escher & son instead of Escher & Co), but this might give a rough estimate for dating the Escher&son labelled hones.



In the 1920^th when the company name changed to JGES the company produced also small toy-cars made of plastics that are quite rare and sought-after today – as you will see on this auction:

seltener GRÜNER IGES / IGES VW Käfer Brezelfenster Nr. 907 Nylonachsen 50er | eBay

Sounds like specialising in toys for big boys

Originally Posted by hatzicho

The following information shows an example. Also it states that the company trades under the name J.G. Escher and sons from the year 1906 on.

Fascinating about the dolls and toys. For me, the best thing is an apparent confirmation of my suspicion that the barber scene with the 4 men is the older label/hone then the one with the 2 men. Based on the & Sohn addition.

The fog around the whole Escher thing seems to be lifting, thank you!

I've got a little Japanese toy fox, Kitsune, guarding my Jnats, maybe I should get an Escher doll to guard my Eschers.
It looks scary tho!

I was thinking about how does a family end up owning a company that mines/quarries sharpening stones ? I wonder if they owned the land or leased it ? If there are any records pertaining to that, perhaps through the government, zoning or something like that ? It would be interesting to find out exactly where the quarry was and if it was always in the same geographical area. When it was, where it was, whether the location changed over the years ........ your mission if you choose to accept it ......

Jimmy, Look at MichaelC and Zulu hones for example. Someone could own a piece of land and literally find gold on it, in one form or another.

Thanks for the info, interesting stuff. Man, that's one creepy looking doll though. They should have stuck with hones only lol

makes you wonder,Perhaps they made the Bisque Dolls out of all the slurry created from cutting and finishing the stones?

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

makes you wonder,Perhaps they made the Bisque Dolls out of all the slurry created from cutting and finishing the stones?

Perhaps it was the dolls grading and packing the stones by night... [insert spooky noise here]

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I was thinking about how does a family end up owning a company that mines/quarries sharpening stones ? I wonder if they owned the land or leased it ? If there are any records pertaining to that, perhaps through the government, zoning or something like that ? It would be interesting to find out exactly where the quarry was and if it was always in the same geographical area. When it was, where it was, whether the location changed over the years ........ your mission if you choose to accept it ......

Jimmy,

If I had to make an educated guess it would be a product of kaolinite that is used for pottery clay. A wild stab at this would have me to believe when the company was mining for Kaolinite they discovered the sharpening stones. Or possibly the reverse, they were mining for the sharpening stones and decided to make a profit from the kaolinite.

Not at all uncommon for mining companies to be in multiple areas. Think diamonds. Whatever diamond mines don't sell for jewelery can become diamond drill bits or saw diamond tipped saw blades.

I could be wrong but it's just a thought.