73 - Reservist stein, artillery “55”, “Mit Gott für König und Vaterland”, 2nd half 20th century

Reservist stein, artillery “55”, “Mit Gott für König und Vaterland”, 2nd half 20th century Ceramic and pewter, reservist stein, replica, cylindrical body, cream-white glaze, with relief brown borders with bead moulding and gilt rim at top and bottom, handle with bead relief, pointed pewter lid with relief decoration and thumb-lift with foliage, to the front a banderole in Fraktur “Mit Gott für König und Vaterland”, below the artillery emblem with shell above a red epaulette field with flaming bomb and the number “55”, crossed gun barrels and oak wreath with bow, 2nd half 20th century, condition commensurate with age, glaze crazed, cracks to wall and base, pewter lid soldered, H. 23.5 cm. 360-degree photo available on our website. In the German Empire, reservist steins were the souvenirs soldiers bought at the end of their military service: beer steins with pewter lids, painted or with transfer prints, showing regiment, garrison, period of service and the names of comrades; their heyday was around 1890 and between 1905 and 1913, and the tradition ended with the First World War. Lid finials and emblems followed the branch of service, a shell for the artillery; the motto on the banderole was the watchword of the Prussian army on helmets and belt buckles. The number “55” on the epaulette corresponds to the model, the 2nd Thuringian Field Artillery Regiment No. 55 in Naumburg an der Saale (1899 to 1919). After the Second World War, German manufacturers began to reproduce such regimental steins, first for American soldiers and collectors, later for the souvenir trade; the replicas adopt the shape, pewter lid, transfer decoration and mottos of the historical models.