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From: Walt Vogdes
Remote Name: 67.182.133.108
Date: 09/18/2008
Time: 05:34:12 PM
First let me say there have been several theories advanced about how Mettlach actually made their "etched" steins, and I am not the author of any of them. There is no single theory which is accepted by everyone. Gary Kirsner, in "The Mettlach Book", states, "Actually, the chromolith [etched] wares were not etched; rather the design was made by some form of a mold or pressed process, the exact nature of which is unknown... The [chromolith] design is generally recognized to be a separate section that was applied and fused to the body with pressure and great heat... The V&B literature used to promote the sale of chromolith products would tend to suggest that colored clays were laid into the body of the wares in a process similar to cloisonne... [T]hose who have examined broken pieces of etched wares know that the color is only 1/64 inch or less in depth." Although the design is shallow, it is clear that it is made from different colors of clay, not from painting. Whether these designs were made using clay slip (a semi-liquid mixture of clay and water) or clay in plastic form and exactly how the designs were married to the bodies is open to conjecture.