Vintage Ceramic Caroling Boy and Girl Salt and Pepper Shakers

This is a matching pair of vintage ceramic salt and pepper shakers featuring a boy and a girl in a caroling or outdoor winter theme. The figures are approximately 3 to 4 inches tall and are crafted from glazed ceramic with a glossy finish. The girl wears a wide-brimmed red bonnet with a white band, a matching red dress, white socks, and black shoes, standing on a light green base. The boy wears a brown hat, a brown jacket over a white collared shirt with a red tie, red trousers, and black shoes. Both figures feature stylized wide-set black eyes and small o-shaped mouths as if singing. Notable features include hand-painted details and holes on top of the head/hat for dispensing spices. The condition appears fair to good for their age, exhibiting typical surface crazing throughout the glaze and minor paint loss or 'cold paint' wear, particularly on the girl's bonnet. There are no visible large chips or cracks, though the bases may show light shelf wear. These items are characteristic of mid-20th-century Japanese export ceramics, likely dating from the late 1940s to the 1950s. The craftsmanship is typical of mass-produced novelty kitchenware from that era, showcasing a charming, whimsical aesthetic highly collectible today.