Figure 1.--This illustration comes from a French codex (manuscript book) created in the early 15th century (about 1410) now archived in the Paris National Library. It depicts the ages of life in seven seven life ages. The depictions provide wonderful examples of 15th century period clothing. Here we have the forst page. In the foreground we can see a baby in his cradle, a toddler with a walker and a child with a toy stick horse. Hevseems to be pakying jiusting, akthough we do not undestand what is on the tip of thevlance. vrThe baby is wrapped in swaddling bands. Both the toddler and older child wear tunics (or long shirts). They are barefoot and the shirts look like their only garments. In the background there is a boy wearing a long tunics and a younger teenager wearing tights. He has a sword, perhaps a real one. He is holding something in his hand, but we have no idea what it is. Both wear shoes and caps. Finally there are an adult and an old man.
We begin to learn more about toys in the 15th century. This is because they begin to appear in art. The art is very important because toys generally do not survive. Children are riugh on things. And the materials used for toys oftem deteroriare over time. This is why the toys we have from the ancient world are mostly clay figures. Clay figurines unlike most other toys are hard to destoy. Clay is not biosdegradeable and once baked is more or less permament. They can last not only for centuries, but millennia. Other toys nostly disappear over time which is why art is such an importamt source. Before the Renaissance, art was largely the province of the Church because the Church could aford it. Thus most paintings had religious themes. And toys had no place in religious portraits. With the Renaissance and its hunanist orientation, painters began not only to paint portraits of individuals and not just royals, but scenes depicting real life activities. And when children were involved we sometimes see their toys. Such images were not very common, in part because play and toys were not take very seriously. Most parents saw them as a waste of time. Some of the toys we see are tools of the trade. Aristocratic boys might have toy borses, lances, and toy swords. Girls might have dolls. Toys became more common as Europe emerged from the medievil era and economic conditions improved. As affluence spread over a larger social base, this meant that children had more time to play and mire parebts willing to indulge them..
