The company Erzgebirgische Volkskunst (folk art) Schmidt is located in the small village of Giegengrün on the north-western edge of the Erzgebirge mountains, a little outside the centre of traditional wood art. The small family business has specialized in high-quality original smokers, in particular on salesman motives.

Smoking men

Schmidt smokers are recognizable by their luxuriant beard of real fur and eye-catching headgear. The body is turned from local pine wood, and the base is made of solid beech. They are about 8-20 inches tall and often wear a thick coat - in the natural colour of the wood or glazed in subtle, natural colours. A high, cylindrical hat with felt brim, high black boots over their trousers and sometimes gaiters against the cold and humidity of the Erzgebirge winter, complete their aspect. Their long hair and dense beards give them their characteristic, rustic appearance. Like all Erzgebirge smokers, Schmidt’s smokers love to smoke their pipes - we recommend the many different scents of the original Crottendorfer, the Huss or Knox incense cones:

• Crottendorfer Incense Cones
• Huss Incense Cones
• Knox Incense Cones

Salesmen

The most popular motif of the smokers designed by Volkskunst Schmidt are traveling salesmen. On his hawker's tray the Schmidt Erzgebirge Salesman brings the classics of regional wood art to the people: a Christmas pyramid, a little horseman and the traditional miner and angel figures. The Candle Arch Salesman, the Nativity Set Salesman and the Candle Holder Salesman are no less cute and with lovingly designed tiny details ready to evoke the romantic image of former times, when the traveling merchants still went from village to village on foot. The Schmidt vine trader has a Hessian cider jug and the magnum bottle of champagne between his wine bottles, the Schmidt spice trader carries not only local vegetables but also the scents of the wide world with him - we recommend to complete the illusion by burning the incense cones from the series “Trip Around the World” from Crottendorfer.

• Smoker - Erzgebirge Salesman
• Smoker - Candle Arch - Salesman
• Smoker - Nativity Set - Salesman
• Smoker - Candle Holder - Salesman
• Smoker - Vine Trader
• Smoker - Spice Trader

Other smoker motifs by Schmidt Volkskunst

Further motifs complement the salesman series, for example the hunter or the oldtimer driver, who is holding a real small rubber tire in his arms and seems to be looking for roadside assistance. The suitably outfitted Forest Gnome Blacksmith is busy at work beneath a charcoal oven. For him, the Neudorfer incense cones with engine smell from Huss are a really funny idea.

Company

The workshop Erzgebirgische Volkskunst Schmidt was founded in 1987, still in GDR times by the wood turner and master toy maker Gernoth Schmidt. His wood artists use local woods for their high-quality Ore Mountain figurines, which are made by hand. Besides this, many other materials are used for making the tiny accessories really cute and lively: besides felt and animal hair, glass is used for the bottles of the Schmidt spice salesman, metal for the peddlers goods, rubber for the spare tyre of the blacksmith, or checked fabric for the scarf of the carpenter.

• Smoker - Spice Trader
• Smoker - Peddler
• Smoker - Carpenter