Surprise Surprise thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Surprise Surprise

Wooden Toy
1968 (made)
Artist/Maker
Naef (manufacturer)
Fredun Shapur (designer)
Place of origin
Switzerland (made)

Fredun Shapur is a toy designer and illustrator based in London. From the 1960s onwards, Shapur created innovative and distinctive design products for international companies such as Naef, Galt Toys, Fischerform and Selecta and especially for Creative Playthings. His work is remarkable for fostering children’s imagination through a wide range of playful learning opportunities that appeal to both children and adults. A strong visual language of flat planes and saturated colour united Shapur’s work across two and three dimensions.


Object details

Categories
Dolls & Toys
Children & Childhood
Object type
Wooden toy
Parts
This object consists of 5 parts.
(Some alternative part names are also shown below)
  • Wooden Toy
  • Wooden Toy
  • Wooden Toy
  • Wooden Toy
  • Wooden Toy
  • Prototype
TitleSurprise Surprise (manufacturer's title)
Brief description
'Surprise Surprise', wooden toy designed by Fredun Shapur for Naef, Switzerland, 1968
Dimensions
  • Height: 233mm (Note: Wooden toy fully assembled)
  • Diameter: 36mm (Note: Wooden toy fully assembled)
  • Height: 81mm (Note: Lid)
  • Diameter: 36mm (Note: Lid)
  • Height: 163mm (Note: Base)
  • Diameter: 36mm (Note: Base)
  • Height: 53mm (Note: Interior figures)
  • Diameter: 22mm (Note: Interior figures)
  • Height: 240mm (Note: Box)
  • Width: 41mm (Note: Box)
  • Depth: 41mm (Note: Box)
Style
Modernist
Production typePrototype
Credit line
Given by Fredun Shapur
Summary
Fredun Shapur is a toy designer and illustrator based in London. From the 1960s onwards, Shapur created innovative and distinctive design products for international companies such as Naef, Galt Toys, Fischerform and Selecta and especially for Creative Playthings. His work is remarkable for fostering children’s imagination through a wide range of playful learning opportunities that appeal to both children and adults. A strong visual language of flat planes and saturated colour united Shapur’s work across two and three dimensions.
Bibliographic reference
Mira Shapur and Amy Ogata, Fredun Shapur: Playing with Design, Piqpoq Editions, Paris, 2013, p. 26
Collection
Young V&A Collection
Accession number
B.7:1 to 5-2015

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Record createdJuly 23, 2015
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1318005/surprise-surprise-wooden-toy-fredun-shapur/
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