This is another of my very rare Schafer & Vater antique smoking collectables.
It is one of a series of quirky smoking heads, strange ashtrays, and novelty match holders - that I have for sale in my online shop.
They are all very rare and hard to source and are special items for the specialist collector of early 20th century Schafer and Vater porcelain models.
This little figure is known as a smoking head. It is an ashtray in the form of an exaggerated, elongated head of a bald gentleman. Your cigarette would rest in the head's mouth - and the smoke would come out of his ears.
The different models form a barber's shop choir.
This model has no letters on the front - but it is rarer variant of the Sweet Adeline ashtray. It does not have a shiny glaze on the head section - but a darker tone on a bisque finish. There are no ear holes in this one - but interestingly there is a fitted container space in the top of his head where you would store match sticks - I have never seen another like this - so one for the more specialist collector. The rarity is reflected in the asking price for this one being a little more expensive.
He is 13 cm (5 1/4 inches) in height.
It is in good vintage condition. There appears to be a little loss to the top of the lip - but not sure if this occurred in the making and is a flaw - rather than being a chip. But still a rarer piece - and priced accordingly.
These antique pieces of German smoking paraphernalia are now hard to find.
Displays very well. POSTAGE WOULD BE WITH UK Royal Mail Tracked - this would cost £4.95. Postal discounts would apply - any overpayment in postage would be refunded. to you.
HISTORY: The company was founded by a 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.