Purchased at auction in October 1995 from what the owner records as the Gordon Rewe auction (reported; auction name phonetically rendered — the audio transcript captured "Gordon Lee"; collection notes are written as "Gordon Rewe"). The 1995 acquisition is well-established within the collection's working history, though independent verification of the auction event has not yet been recovered. The auction may have been a regional or specialist sale that did not leave a strong digital trail; an October 1995 date and a five-figure realized price are both consistent with the carousel market environment of that period.

The owner referenced an unclear remark about a prior owner who displayed the piece — possibly at a "grocery store… for 15 years" or "19 years" — before the 1995 sale (reported; meaning of remark unclear and not built into the entry; flagged for owner clarification).

The documented trail begins at the 1995 auction acquisition. Pre-1995 history, the identity of the consignor, and the original carousel of origin are not established. The owner's reference to a possible prior-owner display history is a research lead worth following up on but is not yet a documented provenance link.

The carousel frog is a uniquely Herschell-Spillman figure type. Herschell-Spillman was the only American carousel manufacturer to carve frogs — a fact directly stated in The Henry Ford's museum documentation for its 1913 H-S carousel and reinforced by the National Carousel Association's documentation of H-S menagerie production (sourced). The figure was catalogued as a "hop toad" in the Herschell-Spillman company catalog (sourced — Greenfield Village interpretive signage). Beyond their species-level uniqueness, H-S frogs share a second distinction noted in museum interpretation: they are the only American carousel animal documented as wearing human clothing (sourced — The Henry Ford).

The Herschell-Spillman Company of North Tonawanda, New York, was the largest U.S. carousel manufacturer between 1904 and 1920 (sourced — The Henry Ford; National Carousel Association). The 1913 attribution date on this piece coincides exactly with the most important surviving public reference example for the type:

• Henry Ford Museum / Greenfield Village 1913 Herschell-Spillman Carousel (Dearborn, MI). Built 1913; original location uncertain, but the carousel operated at Liberty Lake / Spokane, Washington from 1923 to 1961, then in storage, then acquired by The Henry Ford and installed at Greenfield Village in the early 1970s, where it operates today. Its menagerie includes one frog/hop toad — the documentary baseline for the type (sourced).

• 1905 Herschell-Spillman 2-row menagerie carousel — one of just three sixteen-sweep, 40-foot machines built by H-S. The full set includes 2 frogs (paired), 2 dogs, 4 roosters, 4 zebras, and 2 pigs (sourced — AntiqueCarousels.com / Jon Abbott rescue). This establishes that H-S frogs appeared in singles or paired configurations depending on the machine.

The figure type is documented in the carousel literature, including Carousel Art Magazine, issue 25, page 2, which the owner cites as showing a "very similar" example (reported — direct verification pending against the issue itself). As a figure type produced only by one American maker, on a relatively small number of surviving operating machines, the H-S frog is among the rarer documented American carousel animals. Most surviving examples are still riding on operating machines (Greenfield Village; Story City, Iowa Herschell-Spillman; others) rather than circulating on the private market. When private-market examples surface, they trade well.

Photograph shows a fully restored figure presented to a high standard. The paint surfaces are crisp and clean; the leopard-spot pattern is well-executed; the costume detail (red coat, white collar with bow tie, blue breeches, gold buttons and piping) is sharp; the glass eye is in place; the carved webbed feet are intact with no visible damage. The restorer is not identified in available interview material. No structural concerns are visible. Formal condition rating pending direct inspection.

High. Maker attribution is essentially definitive on the physical evidence alone — the carousel frog is uniquely a Herschell-Spillman figure type in American production. The circa 1913 date is reported by the owner and is fully consistent with documented H-S menagerie production. The 1995 acquisition price and date are established within the collection's working records. The auction event itself ("Gordon Rewe") has not been independently verified and remains an open question. Carousel of origin is undocumented.

• Owner interview, transcribed (audio recording)

• Collection master notes (PDF, current working version)

• One photograph analyzed (romance side, leaping pose, full body on pole)

• The Henry Ford / Greenfield Village — 1913 Herschell-Spillman carousel; museum interpretive signage; digital collection records on the H-S hop toad

• AntiqueCarousels.com — 1905 Herschell-Spillman 2-row menagerie carousel (Jon Abbott rescue) census detail

• Wikipedia — Herschell-Spillman Two-Row Portable Menagerie Carousel, Story City, Iowa (additional H-S 1913 production reference)

• National Carousel Association — Herschell-Spillman company history and production period reference

• Charlotte Dinger, Carousel Art Magazine, issue 25, page 2 (cited per collection notes; comparable example reference)