Charlotte Dinger; Expert on Carousel Horses

Charlotte Dinger, 66, a leading authority and collector of carousel horses. Enchanted by a carousel as a child, Dinger became a collector after a chance visit to an antique store in 1972 when she bought an old wooden horse for $75. She restored it and located two dozen more stacked in a warehouse. She stored all those and more in her Morristown, N.J., garage until the collection outgrew it. She established a traveling exhibit that displayed her wooden animals at museums throughout the country. As turn-of-the-century carousel horses became recognized as carved art pieces, Dinger became an expert and a consultant to Sotheby’s auction house. Sotheby’s has sold carousel horses for as much as $175,000. Dinger’s collection is now permanently displayed at Peddler’s Village in Lahaska, Pa. On Oct. 19 in Morristown, N.J., of a heart attack.