Featured this month is a pottery relief stein honoring Georg von Frundsberg.
The scene on the stein shows him on horseback speaking to his soldiers, possibly
leading an attack on the medieval fortress shown in the background.
Georg von Frundsberg (1473–1528), is usually referred to as the Father of the Landsknechts (land or country servants), an organization of mercenary soldiers from the lowlands of the Holy Roman Empire. Von Frundsberg and the Landsknechts fought in almost every 16th-century military campaign of the Empire.
The stein has no manufacturer's mark, but the twisted vine handle is a style indicative of a JW Remy stein. The mold number, 1039, is shown on the side of the stein below the handle and repeated on the bottom with a double "1". Noted JW Remy expert
Lyn Ayers says that
this repeat of the first character of the mold number is characteristic of steins manufactured by
JW Remy after his split with J.P. Thewalt in the latter 1920s.
There is really nothing remarkable about this stein, and that is one of the reasons I wanted to feature it. It is a nice stein, with very detailed relief work encompassing the entire body of the stein. To fully appreciate the art work, one has to look at it "un-rolled". As one can see in the picture below, it would make a nice picture to frame and hang on one's den wall.
There is an interesting aspect to this stein. Several years ago it was the subject of an extended discussion on Steintalk. The original poster wondered why this non-descript stein was generating so much activity on eBay. One poster went so far as to say that "this stein, read "piece of junk", would not rest on a true collector's shelf." It turned out that it was the subject matter of this stein, not the stein itself that made this stein so desirable.
This stein is a great example of what makes stein collecting such an interesting hobby. There is a stein for everyone. A collector can build a satisfying collection of steins without chasing after regimentals, Mettlachs, or other rare and hard to come by steins.
Note: For those interested, the full Steintalk discussion on this stein can be read in the Steintalk archive for July-December 2008. The archive can be accessed from the Reading Room or Steintalk. Scroll down to the the post titled: Ebay #290280789711 Rich 12/12/2008.
Addendum: Lyn Ayers adds that the JW Remy Modell Buch lists model #1039 as a “1/2L Seidel hollow base, relief, Georg Frundsberg.” Price of 16 (probably Reichsmarks).
