Outer-Row Jumper - Wild Rose
|
Carver: Ed Sczesny
Painters: Linda Botteril, Teresa Halkow &
Kelly Johner
Size: 48" chest to rump
Status: finished
Sponsor: Wild Rose Antique Collectors
As the Wild Rose Antique and Collectors' Society approached the Fort Edmonton Foundation about sponsoring a horse before all of the outer-row horses were designed, their people were able to have some input into the design of the horse that they were sponsoring. Lauren Baker worked with the executive committee of the Society to produce a design that their whole membership would approve of. Needless to say, trappings that included the Alberta Wild Rose, Alberta's floral emblem, seemed most appropriate.
Many carousels full of elaborately carved animals were produced at the beginning of the last century. It was a period of booming industry, with the vast majority of the most ornate carousels ever crafted being produced during that time. Since carousels often evoke vivid images from our past, one is surprised to learn that the whole carousel era did not last very long. Historians consider it to have ended in the early 1930s, brought down in part by the Depression and the mass production of more cost-effective aluminum and, later, fiberglass horses.
Accidents, fires, storms and neglect have taken their toll, and today only three percent of the nearly 9000 carousels once on this continent are extant. Limited supplies, coupled with high costs, made it impossible for the Foundation to purchase and restore a vintage carousel. Typically the Wild Rose Antique and Collectors' Society supports only the restoration of antiques but, since this was impossible in the case of Fort Edmonton's carousel, it broke with tradition by deciding to support the recreation of an antique merry-go-round.