I do not know the exact history of this lovely lifesize Corythosaurus baby, the very proud of my collection. I bought it at a flea market in Münster four or so years ago. I had recognized it as at least related to the models of the Dinosaurierpark in Münchehagen, but I was more than just a little irritated to find such an item on a flea market. The seller told me a friend of his had sculpted it, but had sorted it out for some reason.
The price negotiations were relaxed, yet my heart beat higher and higher the closer I was to my ownership. However, I am sorry not to be able to eliminate the possibility of having bought stolen goods. The only information I have are the seller´s advice and the assurance it really has been made at Wolter Design in Rehburg-Loccum, Germany. There are two holes for mounting screws in the base, so this figure may have been in use already somewhere. Whatever way the figure came to my collection, let´s look at it more closely.
As I said, it´s lifesize, a little nestling walking on its hind feet, the first small steps into a future as a midsize hadrosaur in the upper Cretaceous of North America. It is 28 cm tall and 51,5 cm long and a lightweight due to the materials used for sculpting – artificial resin strengthened with fibre glass. The sculpt is as detailed as a sculpt can be, very high quality indeed.
The head is compact and shows us that dinosaurs had babies revealing a scheme of childlike characteristiks. This scheme, as with modern birds or crocodiles, triggered the feeding instinct in the parents. The crest is not yet fully developed, it is just a small bump. The jaw muscles are well sculpted, and so is the beak at the front of the muzzle. A strong chewing unit is about to develop, the sculpturer even considered cheeks. The ear cave is a fine detail at the end of the skull, where the skull is attached to an S-shaped neck.
The beauty (I dubbed it Cora, for I think it is a female for some reason I can´t specify) walks on its hind legs, either waiting in the nest for some food or strolling through the close environment of the nest. It is a vivid posture, I would not get frightened if Cora turned her heads towards me and nodded her head or squeaked. The hind legs are quite beefy, they probablyhad to for sudden flight. The feet impressively show that hadrosaurs walked on their tiptoes.
The forearms are actively balancing the animal together with the long, slightly bent tail. They have four fingers, three the animal could obviously walk on and a fourth one at the outside.
The colour scheme looks a little boring at first sight, but it totally makes sense. Imagine this little fellow fleeing the nest and hiding in the dense brake of a nearby forest, a crepuscule that requires camouflage. The light brown with a slightly brighter belly is thus a good choice. Black dots are running from the crest to the tag.
The claws and the beak are black as well. The skin pattern shows no scales, which is a little strange, for we know fossilized hadrosaur skin that was scaly. The skin is very smooth instead, making it look more mammal-like than reptilian.
The figure is attached to a base made of cliff and flint. Someone penciled “Corythosaurus” and his/her unreadable signing under it.
This figure is no toy, it was not made for a cabinet either. It was produced for travelling on touring exhibitions or for being fixed open air in a theme park such as the nearby Dinosaurierpark Münchehagen.
Thus it is probably pretty endurable, but I wouldn´t test this… At some areas of the body it is a little worn off, hinting at the unknown history of the figure.
This dubious history makes it especially fascinating for me. There is a risk that it is being recognized as stolen good with this article. But it could as well be that the sculpturer who sorted it out is happy about its new home. This way or the other: what would the consequences be? However, I enjoyed sharing the highlight of my collection with you.
It´s one – of – a kind, awesomely vivid and lifesize. I can always show off with telling people I have a lifesized dinosaur model – without needing a big garage or garden for it!
Find more information on the great models by Wolter design here: http://www.wolterdesign.de/
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Wow! He’s beautiful!
The sculpture is a blatant rip-off of one I made in 1990 for Hitachi Dinotour ’90 in Japan. When I get back from vacation I will send some photographs to show that the one you have is definately copied but without skin texture (as you have correctly said there should be and mine does). The pose and size are exactly the same which makes me think that at some time the person making your copy had mine in his possession. One of the most telling things is that you will notice the fourth digit on the manus (front foot) is tucked slightly behind. This is because the Japanese consider four fingers very bad luck. They wanted me to sculpt it with only three fingers but settled for the compromise of not showing it as predominantly as the others. It is fascinating for me to come across this. Thank you for displaying it. Sincerely, Brian Cooley
Knowing the Bernd Wolter models from some travelling exhibits that visit my hometown of Monchengladbach about once a year, I’d say this really looks like their models based on style and execution. However, their website ( wolterdesign.de ) does not show any Corythosaurus models at all. That said, I just put a print of that site in an envelope and sent it to Santa.
Hi Thomas! They don´t offer models for individual use I guess. Besides, I am aware that there are only similary looking Iguanodon-babies on the wolter-homepage. Yet under the base someone wrote Corythosaurus, probably the sculpturor himself. Or did you suppose it to be some kind of bootleg?
Quite a rarity! Thanks for sharing 🙂