Rare Cast-Iron Toy Balance

Rare Cast-Iron Toy Balance, possibly Connecticut, patd. April 8 1879 , modeled as a rustic see-saw with cast rushwork basket balancing at one end, a girl with apron at the other, a boy with outstretched arms sitting on the fulcrum, on shaped base decorated with bonnet, cap, books, and slingshot motifs, lg. 9 1/2 in. , (paint chips to girl's face, costume, and hair, paint loss to back of boy's hair and small paint chips on his chin). Notes: A similar toy, attributed to Stevens, was sold in the Hegarty Collection, Sotheby's New York, October 2001.