American Toby Jug Museum 

Scheherazade humidor produced by Schafer & Vater of Rudolstadt, Germany, circa 1925. Scheherazade is a major character and the storyteller in the frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the "One Thousand and One Nights". The monarch Shahryar, on discovering that his first wife was unfaithful to him, resolved to marry a new virgin every day and to have her beheaded the next morning before she could dishonor him. Eventually, the vizier could find no more virgins of noble blood and, against her father's wishes, Scheherazade volunteered to marry the king. Once in the king's chambers, Scheherazade asked if she might bid one last farewell to her beloved younger sister, Dunyazad, and tell her a story. The king lay awake and listened with awe as Scheherazade told her first story. The night passed by, and Scheherazade stopped in the middle. The king asked her to finish, but Scheherazade said there was no time, as dawn was breaking. So the king spared her life for one day so she could finish the story the next night. The following night Scheherazade finished the story and then began a second, more exciting tale, which she again stopped halfway through at dawn. Again, the king spared her life for one more day so that she could finish the second story. Thus the king kept Scheherazade alive day by day, as he eagerly anticipated the conclusion of each previous night's story. By the end of 1,001 nights, and 1,000 stories, the king had fallen in love with Scheherazade. He spared her life and made her his queen.