Moorish Dancer 3, The Astute Allach white porcelain figurine of a medieval costumed dancer

Allach porcelain jester figurine acquired by Adelia W. and Davis O. Morris when they lived in Munich, Germany, as part of the US Army occupation force from 1950-1953. One evening, a man came to their door with the figurine, offering it in trade. He gave it to the Morris's in exchange for a bag of coffee. This is model three of five figures in the Jester series, known as Zaddelrock or Moriskentanzer III, the Astute, produced in 1941. Allach Porcelain and the artist Richard Förster were commissioned by the city of Munich in 1937 to reproduce scaled-down figures of a 1480 Gothic sculpture created by Erasmus Grasser for the Dance House in Munich. The Moriskens were never for public sale, but were made exclusively for the city of Munich as gifts for visiting dignitaries. The city paid Allach 20 Reich Marks for each completed Morisken. Five of the ten figures were put into production. The Allach Porcelain Factory was taken over by the SS in 1936 and was under the direct control of Heinrich Himmler. The first factory was at Allach, a subcamp of Dachau concentration camp. A second production site was set up at Dachau to specialize in figurines. The factories were sub-camps of Dachau concentration camp, with camp inmates supplying the forced labor. No restrictions on access Davis O. Morris attended the Armed Forces Staff College and War College. He was a first lieutenant in the United States Army in Munich where he was stationed for three and a half years, from January 1950 to July 1953. He served under battalion commander Col. James C. Bradford. He and his wife, Adelia, lived at 39 Ravenna Strasse, and later at 7 Wolkenstein Strasse. The couple had a boy and girl while living in Munich and had two more girls after returning to the United States. Morris continued n the Army after the war. He was awarded four bronze stars and served two tours of duty in Vietnam. In 1965, he returned to Germany and was stationed in Nuremburg and Stutttgart. Morris achieved the rank of Brigadier General.