STATUE/TROPHY? FROM RUSSIAN FACTORY'S BOSS

So I get a call from someone who said a friend of his in Russia saw my ad on craigslist for 3 Chagall prints I have (2 prints + a expo poster)! And he wanted to come look at them & take closer photos for his friend. He also saw I had vintage albums & toys. I invite him over & after photographing the prints/posters and looking at what my albums & toys, he asked me if I was interested in a group of 18 vintage ceramic cowboys & Indians from Germany that he had in his trunk - which I end up buying.
But while we were looking at them in his car's trunk I saw a box & when I asked him what it was he said a factory manager gave it to him the last time he was in Russia (he was from Russia). He didn't know what it was for but I thought it was cool & very different - and I asked if he wanted to trade for Yoko Ono John Lennon art exhibition flyer/poster I had seen him staring at & he agreed (he was interested in anything Beatles to take back to Russia when he left).

So now I'm wondering what I have? If you look at the bottom of the "tower" you can see where there is a small hole - maybe a jewel or fake jewel went there?

Also, near the top is some kind of symbol - a square with a cross & the planet earth? in it - what does that mean? A symbol for what the factory did?

The piece is a lot brighter than it looks n the pics taken with the flash (see 3rd photo), but 1 man looks like he has a pole with a cup on the end? (For some reason I thought it looked like a ladle you would pour melted gold, lead or whatever into a mold?)

Any help would be appreciated!

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These are the toy cowboys & Indians I also got from him - I didn't sell anything - I bought more stuff! sheesh

 

If they're working with molten metal, you'd think they'd want to put some shirts on.

 

Looks unfinished (or broken.) I wonder what the hook like things are that hang from their hardhats?

 

I don't know - I didn't even notice that.

 

I think the mold the gold pours into plugs into the hole maybe

 

Are there no marks on the bottom or on the box?

Looks like they are melting metal.
And since it looks to be plated in gold or something made to look like gold, I thought possibly they were gold smelters. However, when trying to find something similar, gold smelting involves something bigger than what he is holding.

I think that long ladle thing is meant to melt metal in the furnace

 

Do they both have a loop at the end? Was thinking one without a loop could be a pontil and the other could be a ladle missing an insert...

No idea what's going on with the crazy hat wires.

 

I think these are the frames of face masks they would wear.

 

That would make sense.

 

Furnaces come in many sizes,a gold smelting furnace can be 11 inches tall or much larger.......... https://www.911metallurgist.com/equipment/gold-smelting-furnace/

 

This is a metalurgical combine from soviet Russia.

 

They strike me as being meant for specific people, such as Daniel Boone, maybe Wyatt Earp, Jim Bowie, etc.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/43923329_6-vintage-german-elastolin-cowboy-and-indian-toys

 

Mine are composite not plastic

 

Maybe the gold guys worked on the set of The Hobbit.

 

I've heard this tale before on this site. Someone comes to see something that a forum member has to sell and brings with them a trunk load of things to sell. Somehow the member ends up buying rather than selling. While I am sure what is purchased has value beyond the sale price or is something that the member wants, it also tells me something about selling things I didn't know.

 

This article from Wikipedia tells when the different types of figures were made, when the company switched from composite to plastic, and much more:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastolin

 

It's never something the member wants.....but something the buyer is looking to unload...for stuff HE wants !!

& I'm suspicious of anything that comes in a preformed box like that wood based statue. I'll bet they made thousands of em.....

Oh...You have real Marc Chagall prints...& let an unknown guy in your home with a camera>>>>>>>>?????
you are way more trusting than I. !!

& I've had this on my comp for years now......I always found the image hard to look away from...........