This is another of my very rare Schafer & Vater antique smoking collectables. They are all very rare and hard to source and are special items for the specialist collector of these cute little German bisque figures.
These little pair are antique collectables and date to around 1905 - 1915.
Again, a very quirky and very unusual example - I have never seen another like this one before. This is a match holder (the unspent matches are kept in a little pot section to the rear of one of the monkeys). On the back of the other, there is a rough area where you would strike your match. There is a wee shallow ashtray section to the front for popping ash and spent matches.
A strange model showing two monkeys nearly entwined and grooming each other and searching for fleas.
The rarity of this model is again reflected in my asking price.
The striker is in good vintage condition - with no chips or damages. No restorations etc.
These antique pieces of German smoking paraphernalia are now hard to find. Displays very well.
HISTORY: The company was founded by Gustave Schaefer and Guenther Vater in Germany in 1890. By 1896 the business was so successful that they were able to expand to the List Porcelain Factory at Neuhaus.
The company aimed at producing high-quality items in hard-paste porcelain - and it made luxury items, including figurines and dolls' heads. They also produced a range of soft-paste porcelain items such as small liquor bottle which were distributed in pubs etc.
Schafer & Vater were better known for their comical and figural items. They manufactured these in teapots, jugs, creamers, bottles, match strikers, and planters, with a backstamp impressed with a crown above an 'R' in a star. 'Made in Germany' was sometimes stamped in black. Occasionally, Schafer & Vater pieces appear without any stamps or reference to their origin, but they are easy to recognise due to their characteristics and unique craftsmanship and unusual design.
Their wonderful novelty figures were always very popular in the States - and by 1910 the American firm of Sears Roebuck & Co began to import and distribute Schafer & Vater pottery items.
In 1913 Paul Schafer had taken over from his father and, working alongside Gunther Vater, built up a successful workforce of around 200 people. In 1918 the factory was destroyed by fire and they set up a new factory to resume production.
Sadly, the firm closed in 1962 and in1972 the East German government assumed full control of the vacant factory and their records and moulds were destroyed - so no further figures could be produced.