Featured hello! old bronze glaze red clay pottery tobacciana mastiff dog

morning! i don't usually pick up smoking items, but i loved the details on this pottery cigar/cigarette caddy (if that's what you would call it).

red clay pottery with a bronze glaze....marked...870...on the base.
stands 7 1/2" tall by 8 3/4" wide.

one of my friends has a shih tzu (mr. beans), and she told me that in China the mastiffs guarded the outside of palaces while the shih tzu would sound the alarm inside. you may notice the opened fan at the feet of the dog on the piece.

haven't been able to find any info, or where it was made. any help is greatly appreciated!

 

I suspect Germany as an origin.
Bulldog.
Matches, cigarette and ashtray.

 

thanks!

 

Are you sure it's pottery? The way it has scratched and chipped as well as the hole in the base it kind of looks like metal. Spelter?

 

i was thinking it was spelter at first, too. but there is a small chip on the shoulder that reveals red clay...also a couple of painted over chips on the base

 

It's so hard to tell from photos. I usually tap things if I'm not sure and see if it sounds like metal.

 

Nice. Pretty irresistible. I don't think I could have stopped myself from buying that either.

 

it is pottery for certain....i started doubting myself but found another small chip and it's red clay under the glaze.

it is a nice item...i love the doggy

 

I'm with you lauragarnet, it would have come home with me!

 

It's adorable

 

This isn't yours but it's a terra cotta bulldog that sold for $600 and it at least has a mark.

https://new.liveauctioneers.com/item/10140517_a44-34-terra-cotta-bulldog-cigar-and-match-holder

 

whoa! thank you so much!

 

They say Austria for origin. Could be.

 

See, here's the problem with this....if I bought it (and I would have) I'd never be able to part with it. That's why I'm a bad seller. I want to keep everything. I love it!

 

Again this isn't yours but yikes!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/large-antiq...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

Similar, but the one you are showing here has a lot more detail in the fur plus glass eyes. The one cartoongirl is showing does not have that attention to detail.

 

I am so glad I found this thread. I have had 2 of these , goats not dogs, for awhile and never knew what they were for.

 

Almost certainly German. I had a tobacco jar with similar numbering that got identified on the European Pottery Facebook group.

 

thanks so much...all of you! sorry i didn't get back sooner...the holidays and everything, you know.