Garden decorations, especially statuary, have been common throughout Europe since the Renaissance. In 1616, the statues only depicted Gobbi (an Italian hunchback). By the late 18th century, porcelain 「house dwarfs」 were created and produced on a wide scale. Soon enough, gnomes became a very popular house, lawn, and garden ornament and this popularity steadily grew throughout the 19th century. Ever since gnomes came onto the hobby scene in the 19th century, small manufacturers have popped up all over Germany. Their manufacturing has spread all across Germany, and each manufacturer had their own style and design.
自文藝復興以來,花園擺件,尤其是雕像,在整個歐洲都很常見。1616年,這些雕像都是一個叫Gobbi的義大利駝背人。到18世紀晚期,「家庭小矮人」瓷器問世並大規模生產。很快,gnomes成為一種非常受歡迎的房屋、草坪和花園裝飾品,到19世紀,gnomes變得越來越受歡迎。這之後,小型製造商在德國遍地開花。他們的生產遍布德國各地,每個製造商都有自己的風格和設計。
Garden gnomes were first introduced into the United Kingdom when Sir Charles Isham came home from his vacation in Germany and brought 21 of the terra cotta figurines with him, displaying them in his home and lawn in 1847. In recent history, they have popped up in films, television shows, commercials, books, advertising, etc. Today, garden gnomes are seen across the lawns and garden of many all over the world. Their popularity continues to grow and the production of garden gnomes continues.
1847年,查爾斯·伊沙姆爵士從德國度假後,帶著21個小矮人陶俑回來,並在家中和草坪上展示,這是花園小精靈首次被引入英國。近些年,它們開始頻繁出現在電影、電視、書籍、廣告等等中。今天,花園小矮人陸續出現在世界各地許多花園裡。其受歡迎程度還在持續增長。