Kay Bojesen Elephant, Hippo or Zebra: Which Wooden Animal

Kay Bojesen's elephant, hippo and zebra come from the same Danish workshop tradition, yet they behave very differently once they leave the box. One is round and upright, one is long and low, and one is drawn in black and white stripes. This comparison looks at how each silhouette is built from a few curves, what the sizes and weights mean in practice, and which animal suits which shelf, windowsill or child's room.

Three animals, one way of carving

Kay Bojesen trained as a silversmith before he turned to wood, and the wooden toys and animals he became known for kept a metalworker's discipline: no ornament that the shape could do without. His best known line on the subject is that the lines should smile. The animals are not miniature sculptures of real creatures. They are a handful of rounded volumes, joined so that the character appears the moment you see the whole outline.

That approach is easiest to read side by side. The Elephant small oak is essentially a domed body, a raised trunk and four stout legs. The Hippo H9 cm is a long, low loaf of wood with a broad head at one end. The Zebra H14 cm black/white is the most vertical of the three, a compact body on straight legs with a raised neck, and it is the only one that depends on paint rather than grain for its identity.

Elephant, hippo and zebra compared

The figures below are taken directly from the product specifications. Height tells you how an animal sits among books and frames; width and depth tell you how much shelf it claims; weight tells you how it feels in a small hand.

A few things stand out. The hippo is the lowest of the group at 9 cm but also the widest of the small pieces at 21.5 cm, with a depth of only 5.5 cm. The zebra is the tallest of the small three, yet at 0.16 kg it is the lightest, because it is slimmer and cut from beech. The small elephant is the densest in the hand: 0.36 kg for a figure 13 cm high.

How each one reads from across a room

Up close, all three are pleasant to hold. The difference shows when you stand at the door and look back at the shelf.

The elephant reads by mass. Its body is a single rounded dome, and the trunk curls upward in one confident line, so even at a distance the shape registers as an elephant before any detail does. In untreated oak it sits quietly with wood furniture and pale walls, and it relies on outline rather than contrast.

The hippo reads by length. At 9 cm tall it disappears behind anything upright, so it needs an open run of shelf or the front edge of a mantel. Placed in profile, the long body and heavy head make a horizontal line that works well beneath a picture or along a low bookcase. The Grey version separates more clearly from oak or walnut surfaces than the Oak one does.

The zebra reads by pattern. The black and white stripes on painted beech are the strongest graphic signal of the three, and they carry further than grain ever can. On a busy shelf the zebra is the one you notice first; on a pale windowsill it becomes almost a drawing. Its upright stance also gives it presence out of proportion to its weight.

Choosing a size of elephant

The elephant is the only one of the three that comes in a full run of sizes, which changes how you can use it. Beside the small version, there is a mini at 9.5 x 12 x 7.5 cm and 0.16 kg, a liliput at 7.5 x 9.5 x 6 cm and 0.07 kg, and the Elephant large oak at 22 x 28 x 17 cm and 1.85 kg.

The large elephant is a different kind of object. At 22 cm tall and nearly two kilos, it holds its own on a sideboard or on the floor beside a chair, and it no longer needs a shelf to frame it. The small elephant is the most versatile: large enough to read from a distance, small enough to share a bookshelf with a row of paperbacks. The mini and liliput work best in pairs or groups, a parent and calf arrangement being the obvious one.

The hippo also has a larger relative, a black H12.5 cm version measuring 12.5 x 26.5 x 6.5 cm and weighing 0.55 kg, which keeps the same long proportions at a bolder scale.

Living with oak and painted beech

The material decides how each figure ages. Untreated oak, used for the elephants and the hippo, has open grain and a dry, matte surface. Because every piece is cut from natural timber, grain and tone vary slightly from one figure to the next, and two of the same model rarely match exactly. Painted beech gives the zebra a smoother, more even finish where the colour is the point.

Care is simple and the same for all three. Keep them out of direct sunlight. Wipe with a dry, soft cloth. They are not dishwasher safe, and they should stay away from radiators. These are figures made to be handled and passed on, so small marks from use are part of the story rather than damage.

For a child's room, the light zebra and the low hippo are the easiest for small hands to lift and put back. For a grown-up shelf, the small elephant is the safest single choice, and the large elephant is the one to buy if you want a single animal to anchor a room. If you want a group, mix silhouettes rather than sizes: an upright elephant, a long hippo and a striped zebra make a more interesting line than three elephants in descending order. Kay Bojesen's monkey follows the same logic of size and scale, covered in our guide to Kay Bojesen Monkey sizes.

To see the rest of the menagerie, from bears to songbirds, browse the full Wooden Figures collection.