Garden gnome

Garden gnomes (German: Gartenzwerge, lit. 'garden dwarfs') are lawn ornament figurines of small humanoid creatures known as gnomes or dwarfs that are typically males wearing red pointy hats. First created in 19th-century Germany, garden gnomes spread to other countries in Europe in the 1840s and became particularly popular in France and Britain. The term "Garden Gnome" may originate from the term "gnomen-figuren" (miniature figurine), used in the original German catalogues, They had a resurgence in popularity in the 1930s after Disney's animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and were revived again in the 1970s.

In ancient Rome, small stone statues depicting the Greco-Roman fertility god Priapus, also a protector of plants and gardens, were frequently placed in Roman gardens. Garden gnomes were first described during the Renaissance period by Swiss alchemist Paracelsus as "diminutive figures two spans in height who did not like to mix with humans". During this period, stone "grotesques", which were typically garishly painted, metre-tall figurines, were commonly placed in the gardens of the wealthy. Among the figures depicted were gobbi (Italian for dwarfs or hunchbacks). In particular, Jacques Callot produced 21 versions of gobbi, which he engraved and printed in 1616. By the late 1700s, gnome-like statues made of wood or porcelain called "house dwarfs" became popular household decorations. The area surrounding town of Brienz in Switzerland was known for their production of wooden house dwarfs.

In Germany, these garden figurines became conflated with their traditional stories and superstitions about the "little folk" or dwarfs that they believed helped around the mines and on the farm. The Dresden company Baehr and Maresch had small ceramic statues of dwarfs or "little folk" in stock as early as 1841, and although the claim has been contested, some credit Baehr and Maresch with the first garden dwarfs (German: Gartenzwerge).

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