THE PIECE: A vintage figural flask, titled "The Apache Dance," made in Germany by Schafer and Vater in the early 20th century.
THE OWNER: As a youngster in the 1950s, Jan Villarrubia of New Orleans admired this piece in the china cabinet of her great-aunt and -uncle.
"When they passed away, it was given to me," she writes. "It is only a little over 5 inches tall, is a flask and made of porcelain. I see no markings on the bottom.
"I've never seen anything like this before, and would love to know where it is from and how old it is."
GERMAN GIVEAWAYS: Villarrubia's flask is one of many novelty ceramics that were made in the early 1900s by the German porcelain firm of Schafer and Vater.
Founded in 1890 by Gustav Schafer and Gunter Vater in Volksted Rudolstad, in Thurniga, Germany, the company began with the idea of making porcelain luxury items, dolls' heads and figurines, but expanded their line of wares to include match strikers, planters, teapots and jugs, Majolica and also a line of jasperware that was similar to the famed English Wedgwood.
Their success was considerable, and by 1910, Sears, Roebuck and Co. were importing many of the items for sale in the United States through their stores and catalogs.
During the Great Depression, Schafer and Vater also became involved in manufacturing German Giveaways, figural ceramic bottles that were produced for export and could be embossed with a company name, or otherwise marked later, usually by a paper label, by a particular business.
The bottles, which were all exported empty, were designed to be filled with liquor and were given out at fairs and dances, and to patrons of bars and liquor stores.
Some were also used to celebrate the holidays and had "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year" stamped on them.
Although Villarrubia's flask is unmarked, at one time it may have had a paper label with a company name.
Schafer and Vater ceased production in 1962 and, it is reported that when the East German government took control of the company's vacant factory in 1972, all molds and records were destroyed.
APACHE DANCE: Interestingly, Villarrubia speculated (quite correctly) that the figures on the flask appear to be in French garb from the early 1900s and posed as if they are dancing. ("It looks like they're doing the tango!" she writes.)
They are, in fact, dancing; but, instead of the tango, it is the Apache dance, a highly dramatic dance that originated in the Paris underworld after the turn of the century.
The name "Apache" (pronounced ah-pahsh and not uh-patch-ee) was taken from the violent street gangs of Paris who adopted it as their moniker after a French journalist who witnessed a savage street fight in Montmartre one evening compared their savagery to the American Indians of the same name.
The dance has no real steps, patterns or routines, and is really more of a theatrical piece acted out in pantomime.
It is described by some as a re-enactment of a violent "discussion" between a pimp and prostitute, and typically includes mock slaps and punches, and moves such as a male dancer picking up or throwing the female partner to the ground.
Its sultry movements are similar in some aspects to the tango, and the dance was often performed to tango or waltz music.
The Apache dance fad was at its height during the 1910s but died out quickly thereafter and was replaced in popularity by the tango.
WHAT IT'S WORTH: With so many of their wares sold through Sears, Roebuck and Co., Schafer and Vater porcelain is fairly easy to attain, and therefore relatively affordable to collect.
A variety of pieces -- priced from about $25 to $150 -- can readily be found on eBay and other Internet sites, but Villarrubia's piece appears to be somewhat unique, presumably due to the subject matter of the Apache dance.
In an article for the Cape May County Herald, February 2008, Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser and author of "The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things," listed the value of a similar flask at $450.