Which Bee? there were a lot of Gobel things that were not Hummels. And the "bee in the V" varied a lot over the years.

I am trying to post pix - and I am very computer savvy - but this is really getting the best of me.... The pix are on photobucket: http://s1070.photobucket.com/albums/u490/DebCam2/

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That's not a Goebel mark. No idea what you have......but it's veerrry interesting!!
Maybe instead of searching through Hummel/Goebel....look at black collectables....negro memorbilia....very hot items right now!!

I'm confused - isn't it a Hummel mark?? I took it to local antiques dealers - no one can find it anywhere. I have tried the black americana etc - and no luck! Did you notice the chip on the rim edge - above and front of the head - it looks like terracotta.
Thankyou for the quick response!

Can you decipher the black letters around the foot and are there any more impressed words/letters like the numbers near the black lettering?

It sure looks like the 1950 Goebel bee.....but....there is no country of origin....just some numbers....??
My brain says that Goebel was a German porcelain maker....this piece appears to be fainace, or majolica....but I also know ( the hard way!!) that Lenox porcelain has a terra cotta colored body, some times.
Not sure what you have. Don't believe it's Goebel, certainly not Hummel...very probably American. Goebel didn't make that sort of stuff.....that was
American...
Certainly worth researching!!

No - I cannot make out any of the microscopic black numbers or letters - but there appears to be RF 109/8 _but I am not definite about the RF and the 8 - perhaps the 8 is a B....... Are you surmising that it was an american piece with a "fake" hummel hallmark? My relative was in the service in Germany and Japan in the late 1950's. It's been in the family since the early 60's.

Goebel/Hummel made a number of "negro" lines, there are a few items if you google images. I've not seen the ashtray before, but I have had other items in this line. I've never had a problem selling them. I believe most of them are from the 30's to 60's.

This page should help you date your piece.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hummel marks

I don't know....the Hummel bee would have had other marks as well...mold number and country of origin at least. and I find nothing online about a "negro line" in Gobel figurines.
It doesn't have the "hummel look"...or rather the gobel look as we know it's not I.M. Hummel.
I don't know what you have....but I only know what you don't have. However whatever it is, it's likely a hot collectors' item and worth researching!

Goebel made many different lines, not just the Hummel line. Worthpoint has a number of the "negro" figures on their site & I have personally sold a number of them. Just because there isn't a lot of information about them on the internet doesn't mean they don't exist.
Pieces were not required to have a country of origin if they weren't imported, as the OP indicated it was probably bought in Germany. Here in Canada we see alot of english china that has no country of origin because they were brought over with the rest of the household goods.

Here is a link that might be useful: goebel hummel girl

Thank you all for the input - I am looking to sell it - but really want to establish what it is and what it's worth. I live next door to the antiques capital of the world - Woodbury, Connecticut and still couldn't get anyone to identify it - they couldn't find it. I also read that Hummel did terracotta pieces that there are no existing pictures of - so I am still working on the assumption that it is a rare, terracotta Hummel until I can prove otherwise. Can anyone point me in a direction - a contact person, authority at Hummel (email address, mailing address?) Local expert in my region? Thankyou all!