Friday, January 16, 2009

Look and be Astonished! Curiosa Cabinett

I purchased Curiosa Cabinett in a Matchbox at Benjamin Pollack's Toyshop in the summer of 2002. According to the Toyshop website, they sell four different matchbox theatres the others being Grande Opera, Casper & Consorten (the German Punch & Judy), and Commedia Dell 'Arte.

Even though I bought the kit in England it is from a German publisher, and was designed by Richard Wetzel. The designer and publisher offer a number of other matchbox sets including puzzles and dioramas. These sets include a variety of fairy tale and biblical scenes.

My favorite detail of this particular model are the frogs in the orchestra pit. The gentleman of large proportion on stage is a cardboard cube that is held to the stage with a tooth pick. The other three sides offer more surreal images, for example a man's evolution into a frog.

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