Porcelain figures charming ,but out of fashion

Q. These two statues once belonged to my mother-in-law. When she died, no one wanted them, but since she was fond of them, I decided to take them with us to Hawaii. They are 17 inches tall and unmarked. I am curious to know their history and value.

A. This pair of figures is charming. They are made of bisque porcelain and finished with hand-colored details. We do not believe the colors found on these pieces were fired-on in the kiln, which means they can be worn away with too-aggressive cleaning.

The origin of unmarked pieces of porcelain is almost always open to speculation, but we believe this pair was probably made in one of the many small German factories that produced such items during the late 19th and early 20th centuries — or by one of the numerous Bohemian factories working within the boundaries of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (particularly the modern-day Czech Republic).

We are absolutely certain that these items are not American, English or French, but we also feel that they were made shortly before 1891, when the American McKinley Tariff went into effect. This law provided (among other things) that all items exported to the United States had to be marked with the country of origin, but sometimes this was accomplished with a paper label that could be easily removed.

The pair in today's question appear to be late Victorian and Continental European in origin. Without some sort of marking we will never know exactly who made these, where and when, but their style and coloration suggest they are late-19th-century German.

Europeans first learned to make Chinese-style hard-paste (or “true”) porcelain — which is what these are made of — in the town of Dresden, which is located in the Saxony region of modern-day Germany. The discovery was made by Johann Böttger in 1709, and production of porcelain items began about 14 miles away in the town of Meissen in 1710. This factory is still in business.

Items similar to this pair are commonly found in American homes, but they are out of fashion and difficult to sell. At 17 inches tall, these are a nice size. Similar examples sized 8 to 10 inches or smaller are so plentiful that they have a value of less than $50 a pair, unless there is something quite special about them.

In the case of these two figures, the woman seems typical of this type. She is wearing what appears to be wooden shoes and a mob cap, which is a gathered or pleated cloth bonnet that covers the hair and often had a ribbon band. The headgear generally had a ruffled or pleated rim and was worn indoors. When milady went outdoors, she would wear a hat over the mob cap. In the 18th century, this sort of hat would have been worn by a lady of means, but by the Victorian era, it was generally worn only by female servants and nurses.

The gentleman figure is barefoot and has an interesting mustache that he appears to be twirling with the fingers of his right hand.

This type of figure sells at auction for $80 to $125 (special examples can go for much more), and the pair probably have an insurance-replacement value of $150 to $225.

• Contact Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 18350, Knoxville, TN 37928.