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Other tackle firms like Hardy
Brothers, were making their own fish carvings. They were founded in 1872, and in 1895 made their first fish model, however signed Hardy models are not known until 1907. From then until the mid 1930s, there were two artists who worked for Hardy; they are generally referred to as the "early" and the "late" Hardy makers. For the most part, the signed early Hardy's are usually half-models swimming to the left; however, a few of the earlier unmarked fish by the same maker are three quarter models swimming to the right. In both the early and late models, all the fins are carved in relief from the body like Malloch's models. The oldest late Hardy is a 1919 River Wye model. |
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Plate Vll shows the earliest known signed Hardy, It is signed with a neat, white bakelite or ivorine label, inletted into the bevelled edge of the backboard on the bottom left corner. The model is of a three pound,five ounce, brown trout that was caught in Lake Windemere in England's Lake District in 1907. It is a three-quarter model, swimming to the right, similar to the unsigned models by the same early Hardy maker. Plate Vlll shows a thirty-six pound Atlantic Salmon caught on the River Don in Scotland, in 1920 . It is painted in spawning livery and carved with an open mouth displaying all of its teeth, tongue and kype. Most late Hardys are carved with the mouth closed, although the teeth are still evident. |
