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Occupational Beer Steins

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 18, 2010| 1 Comment »


There are two trains of thought behind occupational steins.  The most prevelant is that of “what kind of work you do”.  Many steins have been made and given over the years as gifts to artisans who possibly did some qaulity work for a customer and the customer wanted to show their appreciation.  There are those collectors that specialize in steins depicting one’s occupation. 

The representation of the occupation is usually shown on the body, lid, and/or thumlift.  The scene is most normally of a worker in action or in uniform, or the products or tools of the occupation are shown.

         

This is an “Occupation” stein of a Coal Miner.

 

The coal miner stein has Maker’s Mark  – Simon Peter Gerz, c. 1900 to 1960, Germany.  Gerz steins are still made today.

 

Some occupational steins are at first glance hard to recognize as “occupation” steins.  An example would be bucket, stirrer or scoop in a barrel (brewer), scissors and divider (tailor), oxheads or pretzels (butchers and bakers).  Books would indicate professional occupations such as lawyers or teachers.  When famous craftsmen are depicted such as Johan Gutenberg the Hapsburg Double Headed Eagle will be depicted.

Occupational steins can be found from all eras and in all materials.  The most commanly collected occupationals are those from around 1900 that have steepled pewter lids and porcelain or stoneware bodies.

Thats it for today fellow collectors.  In my next post I will discuss a few steins from the War years, primarily WWII. So until then Happy collecting and remember the best is yet to come.

NOTE:  Don’t forget to look for my updates in all post as I buy, sell and trade in each collection. (update to “Taking Care of Your Nippon” Collection)

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Collecting Beer Steins

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 16, 2010| 1 Comment »


My father started collecting beer steins back in the 1970’s.  Not that my family are heavy drinkers but my Dad liked an occasional beer and I do as well.  Most steins are German made.  At least the collectible ones are.  Who hasn’t heard of Mettlach steins? The most collectible stein for stein collectors.

Steins or tankards as some collectors call them have a 400 year history.  Like many collectibles that 400 years can be broken down into periods when certain makes and makers were prevelant or popular. 

Earliest Steins   1525 – 1700 A.D.

Transition Period   1700 – 1850  A.D.

The Golden Era  1850 – 1910

The Modern Period  1920 – present

Most steins are pottery or stoneware.  Many are handpainted or early faience peices are modeled after chinese procelain.  Faience being one area of specialized collecting in steins.  Other things to look for when collecting steins.  The shape of the stein, the size, the lid (pewter or tin), whether the lid is inlaid with porcelain or has a high finial. Decorative thumblifts, lidring, footring, the handle if decorated can help distinguish the maker of a stein, but of course the most important are maker’s marks either stamped, imprinted or painted on the bottom of the stein. 

Maker’s marks on steins, it seems like there are 1000s.  Researching marks can be a time consuming task but as collector’s, research is at least half the fun.  Buying an old looking stein at a garage sale or thrift shop to learn you have a collectible that is desired by stein collector’s is great fun, exciting and sometimes profitable. 

This is a reproduction but resembles a Faience stein.

 

A significant area of stein collection are  the old Regimental steins.  I see many up for sale on eBay and in trade/collector catalogs.  Men who served in a unit in Europe throughout history were given a stein that recognized their service to their country and identified their unit.  These steins also have been copied.  In fact now even some of the copies are almost antique.

             

This is a Commemorative Artillery Regimental stein.  3.  Field Artillery – Regiment – 1. Battalion 1899/1901, Munchen

 

 

The above pictured stein is actually a reproduction of an original Regimental Stein however this stein was made sometime around 1947 by the Porzellan und Glasmalerei Karl Rau.  The lid is pewter and hand welded.  Note the lithopane bottom of a dancing couple.  Lithopanes are often found in the Regimental Steins.

Just a short blurb on Maker’s Marks.  Many steins have Germany stamped or imprinted on the bottom with numbers.  The numbers most often identify what mold was used.  The trick is to be able to identify what factory or maker the stein came from.  So the numbers don’t mean much except to give the feel that the stein did have a mold and to tell us the stein was not hand thrown (method of making steins from the very early period).

I have two dozen German Steins that are currently being marketed.  Visit my store by clicking on My Assistant (the Duck) and read the descriptions of some of the steins in my collection.

In my next post I will talk about Occupational Steins during the war years WWII.  Until then, happy collecting and remember “the best is yet to come”.

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