Stein Collectors International

 
~ Show and Tell ~
Faience Treasures from the 1700's


May 2000 - from Dave Swinford

Here are some scans of two faience steins I picked up at an estate auction a couple years ago. They are some of my favorites. The Bayreuth stein (blue and yellow decoration) is marked BFS, indicating it was made during the Fraenkel and Shrenck reign, which was 1745-1747. The lid is a possible replacement, although it has an architectural medallion in the center which shows the Munich skyline. I haven't seen or heard of another Bayreuth stein with these marks.

The second stein is probably Thuringia, given its handle and the shaping of the rim on the body. Dave adds that the red and yellow decoration on this piece is on top of the glaze which covers the body and the other colors. This provides insight into one of the difficulties faced at this time, since the oxides used for the red and yellow colors could not withstand the high temperature of the normal firing, and had to be added later, and the piece fired again at a lower temperature. These colors have a coarser, relief nature, which is obvious to the touch.


Faience stein (again, a Pilasterkrug) made in Thuringia.

 

Faience stein (called a Pilasterkrug because of the pilasters in the design) made by the Bayreuth factory, ca. 1745-1747. Base marks are shown below, left. Note the swirled lines caused when a wire or string was pulled under the clay body to separate it from the potter's wheel.


From bobaluny (Bob Alutin) via SteinTalk - Re: "BFS" mark. The firm name lasted only two years because of the untimely death of Frankel. The firm retained only a few of the better painters from the preceding Knoller period. The Knoller period was a tough act to follow. Also the competition of porcelain was starting to be felt. Eventually, Frankel's wife and son's got together with Schreck's son-in-law and carried on with the firm. Bayreuth steins with "BFS" on the bottom do show up from time to time. Generally when the stein is painted by an exceptional artist, his initials appear under the BFS mark. Sorry, can't help you on price; however the Pilaster design is not considered rare and if the cartouche is empty, not so desirable. Bayreuth was considered one of the better manufacturers of faience over their history of 1719-1788.

 

© Stein Collectors International 1996-2014
All rights reserved.