Antique Early Faience Beer Stein Schrezheim Factory Keg Form Signed c.1790s

Description

Antique Early Faience Beer Stein Schrezheim Factory Keg Form Signed c.1700s
Description:
Presented is an early German beer stein made around the late 1790s. The stein was made in the factory of Schrezheim - one of the largest faience factory in Germany.
The stein is made from traditional Schrezheim reddish clay and glazed with white tin glaze. It was then painted by one of the factory decorators who created a simple image of a keg with vertical and circular stripes imitating stoves and hoops of a wooden keg. There is also a hexagram painted in magenta and yellow on the front of the stein - a hexagram was an old symbol of beer brewing in Germany.
Schrezheim was very famous in late 1700s to early 1800s for it's faience work and also for the best quality pewter lids. It was the longest lasting factory - most of the faience production factories were shut in early 1800s due to the competiton from emerging stoneware industrialized production and cheaper glass production. But the Schrezheim factory lasted well into the late 1850s - early 1860s.
The pewter mountings consist of a pewter lid with five-ring closed type hinge and hollow ball thumblift. The lid is engarved with the initial "W". The handle was replaced with a pewter one at about the time of manufacturing.
The bottom of the stein shows the initial "K" made in ink - this is the painter's signature. This particular signature is documented as one of the Schrezheim's artists - the signed Schrezheim steins are quite rare. There is also a incised number "6" in the bottom - this is actually a capacity mark indicating the 2/4 L (or half liter) capacity.
The stein is in a fair condition. There is one tight hairline at the upper rand, some minor glaze flakes and the replaced handle - it was broken off and replaced with a pewter one at the time of manufacturing. We can speculate that someone (Herr "W") around 1790s got a hold of a faulty unlidded faience stein without a handle and brought it to a pewterer. Maybe it was cheaper than buying a brand new stein.
The stein is 7" tall to the top of the thumblift, 0.5L capacity.
Condition:
2 faint hairlines
Year:
circa 1790s
Country:
Germany
Height:
7 in
Materials:
Faience
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