Schuco "Felix the Cat" Perfume Bottle, ca. 1930
GUEST:
This is Felix the Cat, and this was my grandmother's toy, and it was given to my mom by her great-aunt. And she thought that the head was coming off, and they realized that it is a perfume bottle, and they discovered that underneath.
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
I know that Felix the Cat is a cartoon character that used to be on TV, but I don't even know that much about that series or anything.
APPRAISER:
Right. Felix the Cat was a cartoon character originally, in the 1920s, and, uh, he was actually a little bit of a naughty cat. He was always getting into trouble and little adventures and things. And so Felix was made in a lot of different forms over the years. And Schuco, which is the name of the company that made this piece, was out of Germany starting in about 1912. And this piece was done in the 1930s after Felix had gained a fair amount of popularity. And he definitely is a little perfume, and his head twists off. You lift out the stopper, put your perfume in. It's kind of a cross collectible. This one, I was very impressed, because I know you said your grandmother played with it, and yet it's in wonderful condition. It's made out of mohair, the fur, and it has a little painted wood face. He has his nose. That doesn't always happen. He has his original bow. That's fabulous. And this one has no sign of any moth damage to it. He's all jointed so that you can... You could seat him if you wanted to. You can move his arms, you can switch his head around. You can do all sorts of different things with him. The perfumes are very rare, especially to have the original stopper. If it were just the toy itself and not a perfume bottle, that type of a thing would probably bring around $350.
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
But because he is a perfume and he is in the wonderful condition and has all of his parts, he's going to be more like $1,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
So, you have an adorable piece. I love it.
GUEST:
He's a little, uh, bundle worth a big price, too, so...
APPRAISER:
Absolutely.
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