Leonardi Plaster Wall Heads

UPDATE:  I have a little more information on this company now, founded by a gentleman named Giuseppe Leonardi, his company made Art Deco figures for years, and seems to have started Disney figures in the mid 1940s.  I have seen notices and samples of Peter Pan figures, so they were a licensee at least through 1953.  I hope to find more information, and if I do I will update this page.

One of the most misunderstood of the vintage Disney figures are those produced by Leonardi. Often mistaken for Italian, these are in fact English. The confusion probably stems from the fact that the name Leonardi sounds Italian.  To further add to the confusion, Leonardi and Zaccagnini both produced a series of Donald golfer figures that used the same model, as well as a few others.

Leonardi produced figures in the 1940s and 1950s. These figures were of a plaster or chalkware like material. The most famous of the figures are probably the Snow White set and the aforementioned Donald. But they made Alice figures too. Ok, well they are not really figures, but wall plaques of a character's head, much like the set made by Cuernavaca of Mexico. I first became aware of the Leonardi heads when I was leafing through a copy of Mickey Mouse weekly from August 18th, 1951.  There is an article by Kathryn Beaumont describing her time at Disney playing Alice.  Pretty standard press stuff, but the photo was truly bizarre, showing Kathy sitting on a couch with the Big Golden Book at her feet, and herself and the couch covered in these bizarre character heads.  I had no idea what they were. I later came across a photo of Walt from an English children's annual holding what looks like the head to an animators model of the March Hare,

 but upon close inspection realized it was the same as the head in the MMW photo.

At last a few years ago I acquired this head of Alice.  It is identical to the one Kathy is holding in her left hand in the MMW photo,

and best of all, it is marked on the back.

A few years later I acquired this Mad Hatter.  It is similar to the one pictured above, but smaller and the mirror image, looks like they made two sizes (groan).

And last month, I acquired this Carpenter.  He is not pictured (groan again), that must mean there is also a Walrus, and who knows what else!

So I'm guessing the characters in the Leonardi set to be:

• Alice
• White Rabbit
• Mad Hatter
• March Hare
• King of Hearts
• Queen of Hearts
• Cheshire Cat
• Carpenter
• Walrus

There may be Tweedles too, but until I see a catalog or find them in the flesh (or chalk), I'm sticking with this list.