There is a dealer at a shop I frequent in New Hampshire who I believe spent her whole life collecting antique toys and games; occasionally I hit the shop just right and come home with a small trove of good ones. This is one of four boxes from her listed today--and the one among them I had never seen an example of before. The title on the box (which alone sold me on these, I think it so striking) translates from the German to "Relief Pictures for Coloring," and though appearing nowhere on the box  a little research leads me to believe these were produced by Werner & Schumann, Berlin. Germany, late 19th century--who produced a few different sets. Here our soldiers appear on foot and on horseback and in carriages, complete with brass footings for standing them up and moving them around. And very happily (in my opinion) the one time owner of these watercolored a few of them very wonderfully long ago, which the stands work perfectly for displaying.

Box 10" x 7" x 1 1/2". The heads on the soldiers, especially, are a bit bit delicate--I used archival tape to re-secured a couple of lost ones on the watercolored group shown in first photo. A few losses to others inside the box as pictured, and some toning spots on the surfaces of some of the unpainted ones. Box shows general wear but is structurally sound and I find it really beautiful. All pictured included. A boxed set of these like this appears to be pretty rare to find, especially in the US!