A CARVED AND PAINTED CAROUSEL RUNNING FIGURE OF A BACTRIAN CAMEL

Charles Looff (c.1852-1918) arrived in America in 1870. He first worked in Brooklyn as a furniture carver, but he soon convinced the owner of the Coney Island beach pavilion to install a handcrafted carousel. He worked on the carousel at night in a basement, where he carved and painted every animal by himself. His carousel combined a mixture of horses and menagerie animals, decorated with etched mirror ornaments that came to be known as The Coney Island style. Finishing the Coney Island carousel in 1876, Looff embarked on a successful career as a carousel craftsman. As the demand for his carousels increased, Looff hired a number of talented carvers, including Marcus Charles Illions, Charles Carmel and John Zalar.

This charming camel demonstrates Looff's love of animals and his attention to detail. For a horse by Looff with similar floral decoration see Charlotte Dinger, The Art of the Carousel (New Jersey, 1983), p. 74. The camel offered here bears a later label of C.W. Parker, and it was likely that he resold the piece in the early 20th century.