Item number: P7

Year: AD 1880-1890

Material: Salt-glazed stoneware, Pewter

Size: 21.3 x 13.5 cm

Provenance: Marc Aurel Antiquitäten & Wohnen 2025

This is a German stoneware beer stein (Bierkrug) with a capacity of 0.5 litres, produced between AD 1880 and 1890. The body is made of salt-glazed stoneware and is fitted with a pewter-mounted hinged lid and handle. The underside bears the impressed numbers “361” and “12”, which are likely pattern and production marks rather than date marks.

The cylindrical body is decorated in relief with a pair of opposing griffins flanking a classical urn, surrounded by scrolling foliate ornament. The decoration is highlighted in contrasting cream against a dark green ground, reflecting the historicist taste that was popular in Germany during the late nineteenth century. The pewter lid is engraved with floral and foliate motifs and is surmounted by a finial, while the thumb lift is cast in the form of a griffin, complementing the decorative programme of the vessel.

Stoneware beer steins have been produced in the German-speaking regions since the sixteenth century. Their development was closely associated with improvements in stoneware production, which created durable, non-porous vessels well suited to storing and drinking beer. During the nineteenth century, industrial manufacturing enabled high-quality steins to be produced in greater numbers while maintaining traditional decorative techniques such as moulded relief, coloured glazes, and pewter mounts.

Lidded beer steins became particularly popular from the sixteenth century onwards. Although popular tradition often associates the lid with hygiene, its widespread adoption was also influenced by regulations introduced following outbreaks of plague, when covered drinking vessels were encouraged to reduce contamination. By the nineteenth century, hinged pewter lids had become a characteristic feature of German beer steins, serving both practical and decorative purposes.

A capacity of 0.5 litres (half a litre) became one of the standard measures for beer in Germany and remains widely used today. Steins of this size were intended for everyday drinking in taverns and beer halls, while their elaborate decoration also made them suitable as commemorative gifts or display pieces within the home.

物件編號: P7

年代: 公元 1880-1890 年

材料: 鹽釉炻器, 錫

尺寸: 21.3 x 13.5 cm

來源: 馬可·奧勒留 古董和家居裝飾 2025

這是一件德國石胎啤酒杯（Bierkrug），容量為0.5公升，製於十九世紀末（約1880至1890年）。杯身以鹽釉炻器（Salt-glazed Stoneware）燒製，配有錫製鉸鏈式杯蓋及把手。底部可見壓印「361」及「12」字樣，應為製造時的型號或生產編號，而非年代標記。

杯身採圓筒形設計，以浮雕裝飾一對相對而立的獅鷲（Griffin），中央為古典風格雙耳花瓶，周圍飾以繁複的卷草紋。紋飾以米白色浮雕襯托深綠色底釉，展現十九世紀德國盛行的歷史主義（Historicism）藝術風格。錫製杯蓋刻飾花卉與卷葉紋，頂部設有鈕形蓋鈕，而拇指扳片則鑄造成獅鷲造型，與杯身裝飾相互呼應，使整體設計更具一致性。

德國石胎啤酒杯自十六世紀開始大量生產，其發展與炻器燒製技術的成熟密切相關。炻器質地堅硬、緻密且不易滲漏，非常適合盛裝啤酒，因此逐漸成為德國及中歐地區最具代表性的飲酒器。至十九世紀，隨著工業化生產技術的發展，酒杯得以大量製造，同時仍保留模印浮雕、彩色釉面及錫製配件等傳統裝飾工藝。

附蓋啤酒杯自十六世紀起逐漸普及。雖然今日常被認為是為了防止灰塵或昆蟲落入杯中，但其廣泛使用亦與歐洲鼠疫流行期間的公共衛生措施有關。當時部分地區曾鼓勵或規定使用有蓋飲具，以減少飲品受到污染。至十九世紀，鉸鏈式錫蓋已成為德國啤酒杯最具代表性的特徵之一，兼具實用性與裝飾性。

0.5公升（半公升）為德國啤酒最常見的標準容量之一，至今仍廣泛使用。此尺寸的啤酒杯主要供酒館、啤酒館及日常飲酒使用，而裝飾華麗的作品亦常作為紀念品、贈禮或家庭陳設收藏。