The first garden gnomes, as we recognize them today, were created in the early to mid-19th century in Germany. The Dresden company Baehr and Maresch had small ceramic statues of "dwarves" or "little folk" as early as 1841. However, the more firmly established origin is linked to the town of Gräfenroda in Thuringia, Germany, where craftsmen began producing small clay figures called "Gartenzwerge" (garden dwarfs) in the 1840s or 1870s. Notably, the German sculptor Philipp Griebel is credited with creating some of the first garden gnomes around the 1840s to 1870s. These garden gnomes were popularized and spread to England in 1847 when Sir Charles Isham brought 21 terracotta gnomes from Germany to decorate his garden's rockery. Thus, the inception of garden gnomes as garden decorations dates back to the 1840s in Germany, with evidence suggesting commercial production around that time and continuing into the 1870s and beyond.

In summary:

• Earliest ceramic "dwarves" statues: circa 1841 in Dresden, Germany.
• Popular production in Gräfenroda, Germany: 1840s-1870s.
• Introduction to England: 1847 by Sir Charles Isham.
• Sculptor Philipp Griebel was a key figure in early garden gnome creation.