Produced from 1884
Product number : Unknown (In the books known to us, this toy has the number 11, but the latest discoveries show that this toy is one of the toys with probably no number )
Hand-lacquered
Flywheel drive
Long approx. 14 cm / 5,51 inches
This is a very rare Martin toy.
The only two I know are the one on the two photos below from the book by Frédéric Marchand (The history of Martin mechanical toys) and the one in the book by Lourens Bas/Arthur Verdoorn (Fernand Martin toymaker in Paris), this one is in the collection of the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, it was part of the gift to the museum by Martin in 1908.
For those interested, see this link for the article about the donation of the toys to the museum: https://www.fernandmartintoys.nl/overview-of-a-1908-gift-to-the-musee-des-arts-et-metiers/
These two versions differ slightly, the version from the museum in Paris has a yellow blue body and the version from the book by Frédéric Marchand has a red body.
The figure on this bicycle was used frequently by Martin at that time.
Photos Courtesy Frédéric Marchand