Update:
This series of Conta & Boehme animals, circa 1910s-20s, was originally published on the website on Sept 9th, 2015. After nearly 6 years, in April of 2021, a single the cow / bull was discovered in the wild.
Now only a year later, we've had the fortune of finding a complete set of cows / bulls and a new piece - a single duck.
Please be on the look out for the remaining two missing animals - the frog and elephant.
These short stocky animals with oversized heads were made by Conta & Boehme porcelain company in Germany around 1910s-20s. Although they are unmarked, a Conta & Boehme catalog from around 1912-17 (reproduced and available for purchase online by Janice and Richard Vogel) shows a display of eight shakers entitled “Pfefferstreuer” that belong in the series with catalog numbers 5147-5154. Due to copyright laws we cannot show you a photo from that catalog, but the animals include an elephant (5147), a hippopotamus (5148), a cow / bull (5149), a duck (5150), a frog (5151), a monkey (5152), a dog (5153), and a cat (5154). Four examples of the shakers which have been found and photographed are pictured below. All measure approximately 3’’ high and have many pour holes. Each pair to date have been found paired as two of the same animals. Each shaker is two-toned with one color at the top – blending into a second color used at the bottom. It is unknown whether they were produced in different colors. If you have any of the remaining series, please contact us so we can include a picture for everyone to see.
