The strange tail of a YZ mouse
An unusual YZ lamp was recently sold on eBay. It featured a mouse.
I'd never seen a YZ mouse, neither images nor in the 'flesh', so I was particularly interested in this one. What struck me was the tail. It's not the tail of a mouse but of a squirrel - and I have seen images of YZ squirrels.
The mouse has the same feet as the squirrel and the same head. The chest of the mouse features a pair of paws carved in relief, which makes the mouse thinner than the squirrel. The squirrel's ears have been replaced with black Mickey Mouse-type ears.
Mickey Mouse?
Walt Disney began his career at Universal Studios in Universal City, California where he worked on the Oswald The Lucky Rabbit cartoon series. When, in 1927, he objected to Universal's ownership of the character he was fired. So he created his own character - Mickey Mouse. Mickey's first cartoon to be released, in America on November 18th, 1928, was Steamboat Willie. Its first British screening was delayed until March 5th, 1931, when it was premiered at the Regal Cinema in London. It was the first cartoon to be produced with synchronised sound. It's probably stretching a point to say that Mickey took the country by storm but he did become quite a well-known character.
But while Walt Disney's future was beginning to look quite rosy, Henry Howell & Co Ltd was beginning to struggle. As the enthusiasm of England's middle and upper classes for sticks and canes as a fashion statement began to wane, the company's profits began to fall.
My guess is that the company decided to test market a Mickey Mouse-themed YZ in an attempt to boost profits. The lamp has the appearance of having been designed to be cheaply and quickly made. Any attempt to make it too Mickey Mouse-like would have infringed Disney's copyright but a modified squirrel would have avoided that problem.
Presumably, since only one YZ mouse has, so far, surfaced, the new addition to the YZ range wasn't received with rapturous public applause.
Incidentally, Henry Howell & Co Ltd wasn't the only company trying its luck with a mouse. There are non-YZ examples too.
