The Armour Archive

Greetings all,

I saw this and wanted to ask about the figure in the red gown located in the lower left hand corner of the picture in what appears to be a child’s walker of sorts.

Is this a "Gothic Baby Bouncer"? If so are there any more pictures information that you know of as I would really like to build one for my son to bring to events.

Thanks,

Odeane...

Picture located third post from the bottom of the page:
http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=91340

Looks more like a walker to me, or is that what you mean by baby bouncer (I thought that was the little bungy cord seats you put kids in to play). I don't see any restraints and the base appears to be on wheels. I'd assume its design would be to help the child learn to walk. Looks quite simple to replicate.

Either that or its a very small, very old monk.

ticeetal wrote:Is this a "Gothic Baby Bouncer"? If so are there any more pictures information that you know of as I would really like to build one for my son to bring to events.

Nope; it's a walking frame. Jeff J made one for his boys.

Trying to think of some other examples. (I never turned this into a linkspage, because they're really unsafe for sites with stairs.) But there's some examples in the children's clothing and toys & playthings linkspages; here's a few of 'em.

• An uncited 15th century illustration from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300097549?ie=UTF8&tag=suggestion-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0300097549">Medieval Children</a>
• A couple of illustrations of the Ages of Man, including BNF Fr. 218, fol. 95
• Christ Child with a Walking Frame by Hieronymus Bosch, 1480s
• Two boys tease a baby, the Book of Hours of the Ango Family, 1500
• Conrad learning to walk in the Schwartz Trachtenbuch, 1561

I hadn't seen any of those before, Karen.

There are others. There is a 16thC painting of one, and I think it might be of Henry VIII's son Edward using one next to his sister. There might be a woodcut/engraving by Durer (or a contemporary) as well. Most of the ones I've seen are of the framed variety with four wheels.

In the first picture you post, the child might be using a 'training toilet'. I have found several examples of those chairs made with a box for the seat, with a hole to access the chamber pot below.

Hello there,

<<<<Looks>>>>

Yes you are correct, but Gothic Baby Bouncer is a fun way to describe it than wooden babes walker. Then again taken at face value and the tendency for Gothic architecture to be sharp and angular, I guess that that wouldn’t be too appropriate for youngsters just learning to walk either…LOL

Thank you for all your help here, my kid is due to arrive this weekend, and to wile away the time until then, I got inspired to begin to plan to build some period pieces for him when we go to events. I like the look of the “squaredâ€

Please note, the image is a 15th century image of "The Four Ages of Man", and theoretically, that is the same man, in the four seasons of his life.

And, yes, it is a walking-trainer

ticeetal wrote:Are there any special child safety considerations that should be taken into account when attempting to build children’s furniture of any kind?

Splinters are bad and there are many people who are less than enthusiastic about lead based paint though I've always thought it tasted better.

As others have mentioned the walking frame that you put a child inside of is dangerous around stairs. However, there are also period examples of a walker that the child pushes along. (The Bosch one Karen posted.) This doesn't seem any more dangerous than other wheeled toys.

Here's the one I made my daughter

I'm not that great of a woodworker. The sides are good plywood and the cross pieces are hardwood dowel. I wished I had used bigger wheels because it did not do well outside. Metal axels were necessary. Whatever you use to finish the wood make sure it is really really dry before you let a kid play with it. Apparently, linseed oil is one of the safer finishes when dry.

(Those very delicate looking walking frames with thin dowels connected at right angles made me wonder if part of their spiritual purpose what to show what a good carpenter Joseph was.)

You can find quite a few illustrations of walkers and other kids stuff in the books
The Ages of Man: Medieval Interpretations of the Life Cycle by Elizabeth Sears (There's a walker in an elaborate ages of man cycle from the 13th century. Whoo Hoo. Late period kids don't have all the cool stuff.)
and
A History of Toys by Antonia Fraser

I also made my daughter a booster seat which was useful for a longer period of time even if it wasn't as flashy. My article on it is in the Florilegium
www.florilegium.org/files/CHILDREN/Childs-Seat-art.doc

Congrats on your new arrival! The stuff children used in the middle ages is my main area of research. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

ticeetal wrote:
Are there any special child safety considerations that should be taken into account when attempting to build children’s furniture of any kind?

It should also be noted that the "rolling cage" walker/seated pusher contraption is now considered dangerously prone to toppling when loaded with a top-heavy infant, and is no longer marketed- or such is the impression I came away with from new parent class right before my son was born last year. Suitably bottom-weighted stationary bouncers are still kosher, though. My boy loves his.

Klaus

Slaine wrote:. Apparently, linseed oil is one of the safer finishes when dry.

Shellac would also be a good choice. It cures pretty hard, is food safe (pill coatings are frequently made with shellac, as are if I remember correctly Skittles. Yup Skittles have a coating of bug puke yum!), is very easy to reapply, dries quickly etc. Its also been used as a finish for thousands of years if you're concerned about that sort of historical context (though I've no clue how prevalent it was in Europe).