Westerwald Water Jugs by  Bob Tibbitts  ~ March 2009
I have been the owner of these two water or wine jugs for years. I know they are not steins, but they were made by a well known stein manufacturer, Peter Simon Gerz, in the Westerwald tradition. The detail is beautifully done as can be seen in the  closeups below. There is also a story to these. The jugs had been acquired by my grandmother years ago. Originally it is thought they had been given to servants from Ansty Hall, near Coventry, UK, during the time that one of my relatives had been a gardener there. The pair had become separated and my grandmother had one of them. Her brother noticed a similar jug in an antiques shop but it had been painted gold for some strange reason. He cleaned it up and discovered it was part of a pair. The jugs were then reunited and eventually given to me. After closer inspection, it was revealed that both of them had been painted gold at one time.