Beswick Shetlands

I’ve always felt that Beswick artist Arthur Gredington nailed it when it came to sculpting British Mountain & Moorland pony breeds. His Shetlands are true to breed type and a great deal of mischief gleams from their eyes!

The Beswick 1033 Shetland Mare and 1034 Shetland Foal are a pair, while the 1648 Shetland Stallion is part of the entirely separate Mountain & Moorland pony series.

According to Marilyn Sweet’s Collecting Beswick: A Guide to Horses, Ponies and Foals, the 1033 Shetland Mare was introduced in 1945 and produced under the Beswick brand name until 1989.

Two colorways for the mare appeared on price lists, brown gloss (1945-1989) and white matte (1973-1982). A chestnut gloss example is in Marilyn’s book and she states that in the 1965 Beswick catalog, the Shetland mare appeared on a page that included the statement “Each model can be supplied in four different colors…” while listing brown, palomino, chestnut and dapple grey as options. Even if this was so, it is likely that most orders were for the standard color, making exceptions quite rare! The mare stands 5¾ inches tall.

Likewise introduced in 1945, the 1034 Shetland foal also continued under Beswick branding until 1989. Color options were the same as the mare with one addition, bay matte (1979-1989). The foal stands 3¾ inches tall.

Both mare and foal are sometimes called “shaggy” or “woolly” to differentiate them from the well-groomed Shetland show stallion.

The 1648 Shetland stallion made his appearance in 1961 and was withdrawn by 1989. Portraying the real pony stallion, Eschonchan Ronay, who stood only 31 inches high, the height of the sculpture is 4¾ inches. He was produced only in brown gloss.

While the three Shetlands were not sculpted as a family, I think they make a nice one!

Please note that the names appearing in the captions directly below the manufacturer, model number, breed and gender are my own personal names for these pony figurines and have nothing whatsoever to do with Beswick.