Based on the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, this toy dates from the mid-nineteenth century.
It is likely one of the ark models mass-produced in the villages of Germany's Ore (Erzebirge) Mountains from the 1840s until the 1920s. Exported around the world, the arks were a popular source of entertainment and religious instruction. During this era, children were not allowed to play with most toys on the Sabbath (Christian holy day observed weekly on Sunday), but exceptions were made for Noah's Ark models due to their reinforcement of biblical learning.
Working from home, family networks in the German villages developed a specialised production system. This enabled hundreds of the wooden animal pairs to be made at once. Children were responsible for production tasks such as rounding, sanding, and shellacking the animals and occasionally painting the arks.
Multiple variations of the sets were made, ranging in the sophistication of their craftsmanship. Some cheaper sets featured crudely fashioned animals, simpler flat bottoms and stencilled rather than painted decorations.
Debilitating export tariffs imposed following the outbreak of the First World War interrupted production and the local industry never recovered, due in part to changing tastes. Museums around the world possess variations on the ark, a pre-globalisation consumer item that made its way to New Zealand during the nineteenth century.