Place card holder? Knife rest?

Any ideas what the purpose of this would have been? Unsigned, but I'm guessing either Japanese or German. Would it be a knife rest, or some kind of place card holder?

Thanks for taking a look.

 

Adorable, I would guess a knife rest too.

 

I found these French porcelain knife rests so theey do make them.
Yours looks much older.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/206963821/knife-rests-french-animal-knife-rests?ref=market

 

Too cute! Thanks, Shiloh! Must be what this is.

 

Hi Lucille,
I am getting German or Swiss vibes off your's. The Japanese gnomes just look more "Asian" and later than yours.
greg

 

One of my coworkers likes and collects gnome figurines, and would probably love something like this!

 

Oh, and lots of people collect figurines of pigs, too. I wonder what a gnome and a pig are doing together?

 

I think it's a fairy tale.

 

Nope -- the one in the fairy tale is Green.

 

Pigs were popular in fairings around the same time.

 

Thanks everyone! I had it with some Christmas decor, finally deciding to part with it, so appreciate the keywords, etc. It's a cute little item, hope it finds a good home.