459 - Simon Peter Gerz Höhr, large Westerwald lidded stein with figural relief, 3.5 l, circa 1900

Simon Peter Gerz Höhr, large Westerwald lidded stein with figural relief, 3.5 l, circa 1900 Stoneware, relief-moulded, ivory glazed, the ground dark green, bands and details in red-brown. Large Westerwald lidded stein, Simon Peter Gerz, Höhr-Grenzhausen, circa 1900, capacity 3.5 l. Slender cylindrical body, the wall with continuous relief: beneath a round arch a couple in historical costume before a balustrade, the man with a sword, beside them a putto and a bird with outspread wings, flowering branches at the sides, along the lower edge the motto in Fraktur script "Immer wirb - das Glück ist mürb."; shoulder and foot with rosette frieze and interlaced bands. Domed pewter lid with scroll relief, oval cartouche, finial knop and shell-shaped thumb rest. Marked underneath, the impressed maker's mark jug in a triangle, below it the model number "866". Age-appropriate good condition. H. 50 cm. 360-degree photo available on our website. The stoneware and majolica factory Simon Peter Gerz was founded in 1857 in Höhr in the Westerwald and received its production licence in 1862; its founder Simon Peter Gerz I lived from 1830 to 1893. After his death his son-in-law Alphons Wilhelm Lötschert continued the firm, which was converted into a limited company in 1897 and existed until 1997. The impressed mark with the jug in a triangle came into use from about 1893 and is found on the relief steins of Historicism. The range included drinking steins, goblets and vases with Historicist reliefs and figural scenes; from about 1900 Gerz also worked with designers such as Peter Behrens, Albin Müller and Bruno Mauder. Höhr-Grenzhausen lies in the Kannenbäckerland, the centre of Westerwald stoneware, whose production flourished economically around 1590 with the arrival of leading master potters from the pottery centres of Raeren and Siegburg.