Honoring Bassist Selmar Meyer
By Ron Tait

I was recently able to acquire this interesting two liter pottery musical stein while at Steinfest this year. It is from an uncommon factory,,, Thomsberger & Hermann of Colditz, Saxony with their mark clearly on the bottom of the stein. The Thomsberger & Hermann Company moved from Wermsdorf to Colditz in 1804 and produced high quality crockery in Badergasse until 1929. They first produced stoneware and then porcelain. Colditz was an important source of kaolin delivered to Dresden and later Meissen for the creation of porcelain in Europe.

The lid is a real gem with lots of the gold highlights still intact and the leaves and the choral book in high relief. There is an inscription in the pewter encircling the lid which I translated once I got home,,, the stein's dedication reads "The Quartet Club in Remembrance of our Bassist Selmar Meyer." As we know sometimes the inscriptions on lids have nothing to do with the scenes illustrated on the stein. But in other cases the particular stein and the scenes illustrated were selected carefully to recognize a particular occasion or individual.

In this case the lid and all surrounding scenes had a musical motif. It should be noted that the cupid on the side is playing a violin and not a bass,,, but I think the manufacturer might have been limited in displaying the exact instrument,,, in this case a bass. So on a chance I Googled Selmar Meyer and was pleased and surprised to find the following notation: Meyer, Selmar. 1899. The American flag: Song for Bass or Baritone. Given the time period involved, occupation and uncommon name I would wager this is probably my bassist. With perhaps the exception of Regimentals it is somewhat rare to be able to identify the previous owners of these steins, but in this case I believe we can trace this piece back to its original owner. It is interesting to note that this was not the only stein Thomsberger & Hermann made. I was also able to discover on the web another very similar cream colored stein of the same shape but with a 4F Father Jahn motif at the Springfield College Art and Madeline Slicer Turnvereine Stein Collection. It too features a detailed lid with leaves surrounding a set of barbells.

Given the quality of these pieces, it's very possible more exist out there just waiting for us to discover.