The Red and Gold Nutcracker King is 18 inches tall. The Red and Gold King has a very elaborate red and gold glitter uniform and is carrying a long red and gold glitter scepter. There is a free nutcracker miniature version included in the nutcracker box.
The Red and Gold King is wearing a gold crown with red plastic jewels set below each point. The center of the crown is red with a gold wooden ball in the center. His uniform jacket is red with tiny flecks of gold glitter, gold and blue epaulettes, white cuffs and clear plastic jewels for buttons, gold glitter shirt front and black belt. His trousers are midnight blue and tuck into tall black boots. He has a long gold scepter in his right hand with an elegant red and gold glitter top. The Colorful Nutcracker King stands on a square red wooden base with gold glitter trim around the edge.
The Story of The Nutcracker.
The combination of a useful tool and a figural form with a human appearance was well accepted by the mid 18th century. In the toy making center of Sonneberg, in the Thuringian Forest, there was mention in 1735 of nut biters that operated according to the principles of leverage. These nut biters were described as sturdy, energetic forms with large heads. Two moving arms on the back of the head allowed the lower jaw to push the nut against the upper jaw. In a carnival parade in 1783, students from Freisingen, Germany presented large models of Berchtesgaden wares, including a nut biter in the form of a little man whose mouth and stomach were one and the same. Select this link to view our Wooden Nutcracker Ornaments.
The literary career of the nutcracker began with the 1816 publication of E.T.A. Hoffmann's fairy tale Nussknacker und Mausekönig, a children's book that helped bring the nutcracker into broader popularity. In the spirit of a time when the importance of the family and children was beginning to be emphasized, Hoffmann vividly depicted a sympathetic soul, Under the Christmas tree a very excellent little man became visible that stood there still and modest. He waited as if they would all come to him. The job of the nutcracker was to work hard for the children of the family by biting open the nuts. Select this link to view our Guard Ornaments.
Thirty five years after the publication of E.T.A. Hoffmann's classic, the nutcracker reappeared as a central character in Heinrich Hoffmann's story King Nutcracker and the Poor Reinhold 1851. In this story the poor Reinhold becomes acquainted with the Nutcracker King in a dream. Select this link to view our Palace Guard Nutcracker.
