Ever since I stumbled across this curious object it has been baffling me. Standing at no more than six inches or so high it shows a little coloured boy smoking a cigar and wearing a slotted cap. It looked to be Victorian or Edwardian in origin and although a friend suggested it could be used to hold fruit knives I'm not at all convinced! The fact that he's smoking suggests to me that it must have had a smoking related purpose or at least a use confined to gentlemenly gatherings. Any ideas? Many thanks!