Antique Early German Faience Beer Stein Bayreuth Factory Bird Motif Signed BK c. Description: Presented is a very impressive and beautiful old German beer stein manufactured in the town of Bayreuth in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. Made of faience in bulbous form called “Birnkrug” (pear-shaped) in Germany, with hand-painted cobalt-blue decorations. It shows floral motifs with a bird as a main subject – nicely done in some kind of primitive but stylish, traditional 18th-century style. Birds were quite popular as a subject matter for faience stein in the 18th century, and Bayreuth factory used it more often then other manufacturers. Nice pewter lid with a hollow ball thumblift. This type of thumblifts was popular in the 1700s. The type of decoration and the shape of the lid and the thumblift suggest the stein was made in the first half of the 1700s. The stein is signed on the bottom with the factory mark – “BK” – this mark was in use from 1728 to 1744. “B” is for Bayreuth, “K” is for Knoller – the factory owner at the time. The mark underneath BK is the artist decorator’s mark. The other inscription on the bottom are later notes. The stein is in great condition for the ceramics item that old. There are minor flakes on the upper rim and some glaze wear on the inside. There are no chips or cracks – a rare thing for a faience piece that old. A large and impressive antique vessel standing 10.5 tall to the top of the thumblift, about 1.5L capacity. Year: 1728 – 1744. Height: 10.5 in. Auctiva offers Free Image Hosting and Editing. Track Page Views With.