$10, Hansel and Gretel Figurines

Ceramic hand-painted figurines of Hansel and Gretel from a Grimm's Fairy tale based on this premise: Once when great dearth fell on the land, a father could no longer procure even daily bread. When he thought over this by night in his bed, and tossed about in his anxiety, he groaned and said to his wife: "What is to become of us? How are we to feed our poor children, when we no longer have anything even for ourselves?" "I'11 tell you what, husband," answered the wife, "early tomorrow morning we will take the children out into the forest to where it is the thickest; there we will light a fire for them, and give each of them one more piece of bread, and then we will go to our work and leave them alone. They will not find the way home again, and we shall be rid of them."

Hansel is 8 3/4 inches tall on a 4 X 4 inch base. Blond hair peeks out from under his blue beret. He wears a light jacket, but short pants, both blue. Strapped across his shoulder, he bears a wicker basket full of fresh-picked red apples and is about to bite into one. His left hand is buried in his jacket pocket, and a small knapsack dangles from his left wrist.

Younger sister Gretel is 7 1/4 inches tall on a 2 1/4 X 4 1/4 inch base. Bangs of light brown hair appear under her blue hooded light jacket and she bears a soft-pink umbrella that matches her soft-pink dress. A small dog tags along near her dark blue walking boots.

Figurines sold as pair: Two for $10. Good condition except that Gretel's left thumb is broken off, no doubt the result of an encounter with the Wicked Witch.