Description: Presented is a very impressive and beautiful old German beer stein manufactured in the town of Bayreuth in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The factories in Bayreurth operated from 1716 till around 1788.

Made of faience with hand-painted decorations in fired blue paint. It shows the Coat-of-Arms of the Kingdom of Bavaria as it was from 1623 till 1777. Bavarian CoA was quite popular as a subject matter for faience steins in the 18th century, and Bayreuth factory used it more often than other manufacturers.

Nice pewter that includes a foot ring, a lip ring and a beautiful ornate lid with a hollow ball thumblift. This type of thumblifts was popular in the 1700s.

The stein is signed on the bottom with the factory mark - "B.P" - this mark was in use from 1760 to 1767. "B" is for Bayreuth, "P" is for Pfeiffer - the factory owner at the time.

The stein is in great condition for the ceramics item that old. There are some several tight hardly visible hairlines and minor glaze flakes on the handle. There are no chips, major cracks or repairs - a rare thing. The pewter is in perfect condition.

A large and impressive antique vessel standing 10" tall to the top of the thumblift, over 1L capacity.