Antique Schafer & Vater Gold-Water Gold Miner Figural Whiskey Nip Flask Germany For Sale

A wonderfully characterful antique German porcelain figural whiskey flask by Schafer & Vater —
a grinning old Gold Rush prospector in a tall black top hat and red neckerchief, perched on a pile
of rocks with his pickaxe at his side, cradling a bottle of his own liquid gold. The base is
lettered in raised script: \"Gold-Water.\"

Thuringia, Germany, and became famous for whimsical figural porcelain. These small flasks are known
to collectors as \"nips\" — they held only two or three swallows of whiskey and were never sold
in stores. Saloons, liquor dealers and fraternal organizations gave them away to good customers at
holidays, fairs and dances, usually with a paper label on the back advertising the establishment.
From about 1910 they were imported and distributed across America by Sears Roebuck & Co. When
Prohibition ended it became illegal for drinking establishments to give such items away, and
production for the U.S. market ceased — which makes surviving examples relics of a very specific
sliver of American saloon history.

The factory closed in 1962, and in 1972 the East German government took over the empty plant. All
of the company\'s records and original molds were destroyed. Nothing more will ever be made from
them, and that scarcity is a large part of why Schafer & Vater is so avidly collected today.

the condition description. Sold empty; no original cork or paper label present.

A great piece for: Schafer & Vater collectors, breweriana and whiskey-bottle collectors, Gold
Rush and Western Americana collections, back-bar and bar-cart display, or as a genuinely charming
antique gift.

Please message me with any questions — happy to send additional photographs of the base mark or any
detail.