ROLY POLY GENTLEMAN WITH CAP MAJOLICA Tobacco Jar Antique Pottery Humidor c. This is a rare antique Austrian Majolica Tobacco Jar known as the ROLY POLY GENTLEMAN WITH CAP. This two-piece tobacco jar, or humidor, is modeled in deep relief; the hand painting, décor and glaze are very well done. The subject is a well-attired ROLY POLY GENTLEMAN WITH CAP. This well-dressed boy wears a flat cap with tassel, a collared shirt, greatcoat, pants with sash belt, and shoes. He is holding a mug of ale, and is smoking a long pipe. The head and shoulders form the lid top of the tobacco jar. The underside of the lid has a recessed area to put a damp sponge, and is nicely fitted on the matching base. The tobacco jar has colors of lilac purple, blue, tan, red, yellow, gray, and brown. On the top, the inside is unglazed, and bottom underside is glazed; the bottom rim edge is glazed. On the base, the top rim is glazed, the inside is unglazed, the underside bottom is glazed, and the bottom rimfoot is unglazed. The underside has the impressed marks impressed 89 and 42831II, and 25 in black. The estimated date is circa 1900. This ROLY POLY GENTLEMAN WITH CAP Tobacco Jar Antique is in very good condition. Condition status includes minimal normal wear and rubbing, typical crazing, minor glaze losses, firing flaws, and fretting. Overall, this work is sound, having no chips, cracks, or major defects, and having had no apparent repairs or restorations. It is noted that old majolica is not inherently “perfect” – pieces were still mold formed in this era and as such have marks like little dents in the pottery which are glazed over. This isn’t damage- this is part of the history of old pottery and how it was made. Please see all photos which are a part of this description. Please note photos have been taken in indirect sunlight; therefore, reflections and lighting spots may appear, but do not necessarily indicate defects. Dimensions: 6.0 In. Tall X 4.7 In. Wide X 4.5 In. Weight: 13.0 Oz. This tobacco jar is based on a popular caricature figure, the Roly Poly. A roly-poly toy, round-bottomed doll, tilting doll, tumbler, wobbly man, or wobble doll is a round-bottomed toy, usually egg-shaped, that tends to right itself when pushed at an angle, and does this in seeming contradiction to how it should fall. The toy is typically hollow with a weight inside the bottom hemisphere. The placement of this weight is such that the toy has a center of mass below the center of the hemisphere, so that any tilting raises the center of mass. When such a toy is pushed over, it wobbles for a few moments while it seeks the upright orientation, which has an equilibrium at the minimum gravitational potential energy. This tobacco jar does not wobble. This is European Art Pottery majolica art pottery from Austria or Czechoslovakia. This style includes production techniques whereby enamel glazes and decorations are hand applied and worked in stages upon a pottery form and fired several times in a kiln. Please check out my other listings with Fleurman. Please bookmark this work; Listing Category and List Price are subject to change. If you see something wrong in a listing, please send me a message and let me know and I will address the situation accordingly.
