~~~ though I'm not too sure about the Saratoga, NY, gig even though German was widely spoken back then and, would not discount the Chicago, Midwest region except for the playing cards.

Documentation tells us Franz Hiess, of Austria; a Turner and registered in the 1870 Vienna city directory in 1870, also had a booth during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair... and, I see there is a ton of indexed info regarding the exhibitions which, I read besides smoking pipes and clocks, him and his four sons turned out Ivory chess sets as well.

Bottom line, at least In my mind; the piece is probably European, German-speaking.

The piece sat on PCF for seven months prior to its eBay listing.