Stein Collectors International, Inc. |
by Walt Vogdes This short article about an unusual Munich Child stein appeared in two parts in Prosit of December 1999 and March 2000. |
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To the left we see a half-liter stein bearing the image of the Munich Child in relief (close-up shown to the right). It's attractive because of its nice glaze and simple execution, but so far unremarkable. Turning it over, however, we find the incised trademark of DOULTON LAMBETH (below, center). How did the Munich Child wind up in London? How did an English firm come to produce a stein complete with a hinged pewter lid and thumblift (unmarked) which are thoroughly German in character? Why is the capacity marked below the front rim in liters instead of English measures? One can well imagine the puzzled reaction of the English worker handling this piece who looked at the the foreign relief figure and said, "Reminds me of a ginger biscuit; think I'll fix some tea." |
There is one further clue to this mystery on the base of the stein, the incised trademark of "Thiery & Breul" (below, right). But so far, this is a mystery mark, and the questions remain. Do any of you have the answers? [March 2000] The
unusual Doulton stein depicting a Münchner Kindl prompted Bernard
"Bunny" Harrison of Slaugham, West Sussex, England, to contact the
Doulton Museum for information. Ms. Julie McKeown, Curator of the Sir Henry
Doulton Gallery replies: "I was interested to see the photographs of the
half-litre stein bearing the Munich Child motif on a stein made by Doulton &
Co. at Lambeth for Thiery & Breul. I have certainly never come across this
piece before and neither is its manufacture recorded in what few archival
documents we have relating to the Lambeth factory. The backstamp was one used
between c1858 and 1891, and the style of the stein certainly looks earlier
rather than later. [Update - Sept. 2004] A one-line entry appears in the Verzeichniß Sämmtlicher Mitglieder des Kunstgewerbevereins in München für 1876/77 (Register of All Members of the Craftworker Associations in Munich in 1876/77): Thierry & Breul, Großhandlung. (Thierry & Breul, Wholesaler) This firm was apparently engaged as an importer and middleman in the retail industry. They presumably ordered the production of this stein by Doulton, who impressed the firm's name into the base.
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