Valendas, undated

An indentation for the horns, a hint of a tail and a little imagination was all it took to turn a piece of timber into a cow. Simple, somewhat abstract-looking toy cows like this one were very typical for Graubünden. They reflect the everyday lives of children in Alpine regions at the time. The artist Alois Carigiet even immortalized this characteristic toy in his famous children’s book «A Bell for Ursli», in which the father carves such a cow in the evening for his missing boy.

In addition to wooden animals, «Beinkühe» [bone cows] were also very widespread toys. They were made from astragalus bones from the ankle joints of animals.