Posted by Ron Danese on February 27, 2005 at 08:44:29:
The little guy is actually a matchholder. Wooden matches were stuck in the holes>>>You would pull a match out, strike it on him then place the burnt match inside his mouth for disposal(saw picture of a sales catalogue showing pieces with matches in holes) There are many "big mouth" characters, sounds like yours may be the German version with a crown mark-Schafer & Vater.ca.1910-20s>>>The S&V is white bisque with black coat and pants; japanese copies are green or yellow,etc. MANY japanese copies, but the german S&V is rarer. I collect S&V, have several "big mouths", always looking for trading, especially bottles. Hopes this helps on your piece.
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