This lovely lady cuddling her kitty while sitting on a settee is actually a smoking set. Of excellent bisque, this unusual piece is 6.5 inches high, 5.5 inches long, and is unmarked.
There are three holders. The one molded to the end of the settee is a match striker; it would have held wooden safety matches, which could be struck on its horizontally ribbed surface. The oval basket by the lass's shapely legs is for burnt matches and the tall container in the back, molded to look like a brick wall, would have proffered cigarettes or cigars. No doubt this piece was made to appeal to men, who would have been only proper consumers of tobacco products when it was made, which would explain the lady's charming state of dishabille. Perhaps she once adorned a tobacconist's counter, a table in a men's club, or some other early version of the man cave.
These two figurines featuring the same theme of a lady lounging with a feline friend appeared earlier on this blog. Although much smaller than the smoking set (the larger of these two figurines, the pretty miss in pink, is only 3.75 inches tall), they certainly seem to all be by the same maker.
