Antique Spinning Top Painted Wood Victorian Toy

This antique wooden top dating from the 19th century is a throwing top. Wrapping a string around the groove in the crown (the handle) and then "throwing" the top away from you made the top spin on its pointed bottom. That point also gave the name "peg top" to these tops. It took some practice and skill to make the top spin and there were competitions to see whose top could spin longest.

This top is in exceptional condition, apparently not having seen much use. It's solid wood, pear shaped and painted in a mustardy brown. The body is overpainted with stripes of red and green in varying widths. Both the pointed end and the crown are painted red, with the handle having a narrow gold stripe and one of green, also. The print that we've included shows children playing with "whip" tops, which preceded throw tops.

The top measures 6 1/2 inches long, about 3 1/2 inches across at the shoulder and weighs 7 ounces. It has a wooden point, unlike later models that had metal points. There is a tiny bit of wear on the tip of the point and some scratches on one side of the body (shown). It's a prize for the collector of antique toys.

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PYH 5693