Vintage Thingies Thursday: Hagen-Renaker Miniatures

For today's Vintage Thingies Thursday I'd like to tell you about the little guys pictured in my Christmas post. They are vintage ceramic miniatures made by Hagen-Renaker:

Hagen-Renaker was founded here in Southern California in 1945, and today the studio and factory is located in San Dimas.  They began by making porcelain pottery, and first produced miniature animals in 1948.  They are probably best known for their larger and highly collectible Designer Workshop horses and also for the miniature and non-miniature Disney figurines produced from 1955-1960 after Disneyland opened.    Quite a few whimsical and interesting figurines have been produced over the last 60 years.  I would love to have some of the cool and rare black bisque pieces produced in 1959.  If you'd like to see more  Hagen-Renaker creations, visit their website or the Hagen-Renaker Online Museum that is curated by two private collectors / eBay dealers.  The Museum has many photos of rare vintage pieces you will not see on the official HR website. 

I personally prefer the miniature animals.  My little animals stand no more than 0.8 inches tall (that's less than one inch!).  Sadly, my current collection is as tiny as they are.  I've had these since I was a child, and although I had a few more of them, I have no idea what happened to the rest of them.  I know that I had one of the fawns...I have a vague memory of breaking it one clumsy day.  Anyway, the kitten pictured above is still being produced, but I believe that the teddy bear has been discontinued.  I also have a little piglet that is still in production.  He enjoyed being outside in the sunlight:

Contemporary Hagen-Renaker figurines are extremely easy to find, and the miniatures in particular are low-priced.  You can amass a sizable collection for a minimal outlay of funds, and you probably won't have to worry much about having enough space for your collection!