Click to enlarge
The Gnome
A duck with a long pointed red hat and a fuzzy white beard, carrying a tiny lantern. Novelty duck for garden and fantasy fans.
Specifications
| Material | Vinyl (PVC) body, felt hat, fabric beard, sculpted lantern accessory |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 3.6 x 3.4 x 4.2 in (hat included) |
| Weight | 2.4 oz |
| Color | Yellow body, red hat, white beard, black lantern |
| Age Grade | 3+ years. Lantern does not illuminate. |
| Origin | Designed on Vashon Island, WA · Assembled overseas |
| Care Instructions | Spot clean hat and beard only. Lantern is sculpted vinyl, wipe clean. |
The Full Story
The Gnome was one of the earliest "character" ducks developed after the Original Bush Face proved there was appetite for more than a plain yellow duck, and it shows a certain formative awkwardness in its design history that the team has grown fond of rather than embarrassed by. The first prototype's beard was, by every account, wildly oversized, covering nearly the entire body and rendering the duck shape almost unrecognizable underneath it, a look one designer fondly still refers to as "beard with duck accents."
The lantern was added late in development, almost as an afterthought, after someone pointed out a garden gnome without some kind of held object felt strangely incomplete. Early sketches included a shovel and a small sack instead, both cut for being, respectively, "a little too pointy for a bath toy" and "impossible to sculpt at this scale without it looking like a lumpy potato."
This design has become something of a favorite among the small but devoted community of garden gnome collectors who occasionally find their way to us through gnome-collecting forums we did not know existed until customer service started fielding surprisingly specific questions about hat felt thickness.
You Might Also Like
Customer Reviews
Fits right in with my actual outdoor gnome collection, brought this one indoors though, wasn't going to risk the weather on him.
Beard is soft and well attached, no shedding issues so far. Happy customer.
Great little duck, no complaints.
The red felt hat has noticeably lightened after a few months on a sunny shelf. Might be worth a note in the care instructions about sun exposure.
Read the history bit about the first oversized-beard prototype and honestly, I would have bought that version too. This is a great duck regardless, my favorite of the fantasy-themed ones I own.
The description doesn't explicitly promise this but the photos made it look like it might glow. It does not. Nice detail work regardless, just wanted to manage expectations for other buyers.