Favorite Find of the Week! An Old Gnome with a Bunch of Fruit

I found this at Urban Ore today - a great place which sells only stuff rescued from the Berkeley Municipal Dump. Every town should have a place like this. This little man is 12" tall x 8" wide. He's got great character and i think he's pretty old - maybe 1930s or 40s? what do you think? I'd love to restore his paint. anyone know what kind of paint can be used to restore this kind of ceramic piece? once again, i have no idea where to place him in the categories here.