David Winter is English born artist and sculptor to a colonel father and sculptor mother. From the young age he was interested in art. He started collaborating with John Hine. The idea for cottages came about after a visit John had made to a shop in St Catherine’s Dock, London. The owner there showed John a butter dish made by Denby and fashioned in the shape of a cottage. He told him that they had sold well and suggested for John Hine and David Winter to try something similar, they did and the rest is history. David Winter’s association with John Hine lasted for 17 years, then he moved for two short periods to two American companies, first Media Arts Group and then Enesco. After that he had a short association with Martin Perry of Harmony kingdom and Kevin Pearson of British collectibles who operates out of Chicago. David Winter resides in England with his wife and two children. Fun fact: The first time that the mouse appeared was on "Brookside Hamlet". The story goes that in 1982 David was sculpting away, adding the finishing touches to this piece while another artist, who was working for John Hine Limited at the time, had just completed a model of a mouse sitting on a piece of cheese. David Winter commented that he thought it looked more like a rat and sculpted a small mouse on the side of "Brookside Hamlet" to make his point. He then proceeded to add the mouse onto many of his sculptures thereafter and so the mouse was born. Then at the end of 1991 it was suddenly realized that the mouse had disappeared (it was last seen on "Castle in the Air") and that an owl had taken its place. The owl is even trickier to find than its predecessor as it is mainly hiding in bushes and ivy. Because of this it is more prone to being painted over and so can become lost amongst the foliage. However, when collectors discovered what had happened to the mouse they were appalled at the loss of their old friend and petitioned John Hine Studios for its return. Realizing the mouse's popularity the mouse returned two years later and he can be seen again on the 1993 Collectors Guild plaque "On the Riverbank" with the owl flying away. Early pieces had a gap between the main house and the small building on the left. An arch was added to aid demoulding. More foliage was then added to block the gap completely. This one is mould 1 Measures about : 6-1/2" X 4" X 4-1/2" Mouse/Owl: Mouse Mouse/Owl Location: Inside the right hand cave Condition: Gently used for display only. PHOTO NOTE: It is possible for items to appear slightly different in shade or color on different computer monitors. If you are unsure about a color or tone, please ASK. Please read information below: The items listed on my sales are not new unless mentioned otherwise. There are mostly coming from estate sales. Every item sold as is and all sales are final. Please inspect the picture attached, request additional pictures and ask as many questions as you need before bidding. Please verify all charges before bidding. Final price for each item includes the winning bid price + handling fee + shipping charge. I combine shipping and handling fee where appropriate. I am trying to ship within 1 working day after payment had been received and verified. If for some reason there is a delay I will notify you with email. I leave feedback as soon as transaction had been completed and feedback is left for me after item had been received and inspected. If you are unhappy with the transaction please contact me before leaving feedback. I greatly appreciate your business and hope you will enjoy things you got from my sales. Thank you for visiting me today. Powered by SixBit's eCommerce Solution