Description: Presented is an early German beer stein made around early 1800s. The stein was made in the factory of Schrezheim. Founded in 1752, the Schrezheim factory, near Ellwagen in southern Germany, produced many beautiful beer steins until it was closed in 1865.

The stein is made from traditional Schrezheim reddish clay and glazed with white tin glaze. The shape of the stein is called "Birnkrug" in Germany - "the pear-shaped stein". This type of a Birnkrug is also called "Kanne" - that means pitcher, it is made in the shape of a small pitcher.

The stein was painted by one of the factory decorators who created a picture of a floral bouquet - a very common subject for faience decoration. The lid is pewter with large 5-ring closed type hinge and scallop-shape thumblift common for the late 1700s - early 1800s.

It is marked on the bottom with letter"B" - this is one of the marks of Schrezheim artists-decorators. Please see my scan of the Schrezheim marks list. There are some scratch marks as well made in the clay that was still wet - these marks are listed as well but their meaning is unknown.

The stein is in a great condition - there is no cracks and no major chips - just small glaze flakes on the upper rim. This is a perfect condition for an early faience piece. The lid is bright and shiny with no oxidation - the stein was most likely kept in a closed space for over 200 years.

This is a smaller stein, standing 6.5" tall to the top of the thumblift, 0.45 L capacity.