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.
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.
|
|