Hi, Simos!
The shape of the helmet and the double-breasted tunic suggest rather that he's a British fireman from the Victorian/Edwardian period. Also, that he's got the tag, "Copyright" suggests a British maker, rather than a French maker. That's not conclusive, but we might rather see "Deposé" instead.
But what made me think he's British, is that while I was looking from French firemen figures-from Mignot, for example-I noticed that theirs have helmets with lower crests, much like the Adrian helmet, and single-breasted tunics. And then for some reason I thought of Benny Hill, and his Firemen's choir, and also his cameo in "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines". Though it's not as good a reference as photos of actual firemen or toy soldiers, I remembered that the uniform had brass helmets with a higher crest, like the old Life Guards helmet, and double-breasted tunics. But following that comedy reference, a quick search on "british victorian firemen" produces plenty of images to support the idea.
As far as the maker of the original figure goes, I suspect we'll find it was a British maker, though so far, I haven't found that figure or a similar one in the articles on British makers in O'Brien's "Collecting Foreign-Made Toy Soldiers". Also, I say, "original figure", because I suspect that this is a solidcast copy of a hollowcast figure. The style makes me think of Johillco (John Hill & Co) or Timpo, but like I said, I found nothing like this in those articles. I'm looking through my other references to see if I can find anything.
But right now, my tentative ID is, British Victorian/Edwardian fireman with axe.
Prost!
Brad
