{"product_id":"1892-trier-ir-29-von-horn-named-porcelain-military-saucer","title":"1892 Trier IR 29 von Horn Named Porcelain Military Saucer","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis 7-inch Imperial German porcelain saucer is a personalized military-service remembrance dated 1892 and directly associated with the 12th Company of Infanterie-Regiment von Horn (3. Rheinisches) Nr. 29 in Trier. Unlike the many generic patriotic porcelains decorated only with military motifs, this example preserves a personal name, company designation, regiment, garrison city, and date. These details transform it from a decorative period object into a documented artifact of one family’s connection with the peacetime Prussian Army during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe saucer is formed from white glazed porcelain with a broad, shallow well, gently fluted sides, and a scalloped outer edge. It measures approximately 7 inches in diameter. The outer rim is bordered by a broad gold band, supplemented by a narrower inner line, while the surrounding field is decorated with delicate gilded foliate scrolls, leaves, flowers, and ribbon-like flourishes. The decoration was applied over a faint white-on-white molded or painted floral pattern that becomes visible when the porcelain is viewed under angled light. This restrained ground treatment gives the saucer additional depth without competing with the central commemorative medallion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the center is a hand-painted representation of two clasped hands placed before a bouquet of multicolored flowers. One arm emerges from a reddish-brown military-style cuff with three gilt buttons and a dark lower section, while the opposing arm terminates in a plain black sleeve. The image may symbolize the bond between the serving soldier and his father, or more broadly the enduring loyalty between a son and his family. The floral arrangement includes green foliage with red, blue, and rose-colored blossoms, introducing a sentimental domestic element into an otherwise specifically military inscription.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAround this central image appears the inscription:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Eisen, Stahl und Marmor bricht,\u003cbr\u003eAber Sohnes Liebe nicht.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis translates as:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Iron, steel, and marble break,\u003cbr\u003eBut a son’s love does not.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe verse belongs to a long German-language tradition in which seemingly permanent materials are contrasted with the greater endurance of personal affection. Here, the familiar sentiment has been expressly adapted to the relationship between a son and his family. The wording predates the much later twentieth-century popular song built around a comparable phrase and should be understood within the nineteenth-century culture of family albums, presentation porcelain, keepsakes, and military-service souvenirs. Its appearance on an object dated 1892 provides a particularly early material example of this sentimental formula.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBelow the clasped hands is the principal dedicatory inscription. The tightly painted cursive and abbreviated military terminology appear to read:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Zum Andenken a. m. Sohne\u003cbr\u003ePhilipp, b. d. 12. Comp. Inftr.\u003cbr\u003eRgts. v. Horn, 3. rh. Nr. 29\u003cbr\u003ein Trier\u003cbr\u003e1892.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExpanded into modern English, the intended meaning is approximately:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“In remembrance of my son Philipp, with the 12th Company of Infantry Regiment von Horn, 3rd Rhenish, No. 29, in Trier, 1892.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA few letters in the personal portion are compressed and softened by age, but “Philipp” is the most probable reading. The remaining service information is considerably clearer and securely identifies the 12th Company, Infantry Regiment von Horn, the 3rd Rhenish designation, regimental number 29, Trier, and the year 1892. The unusual phrasing suggests that the saucer commemorated Philipp’s service from the perspective of a parent or family member rather than functioning merely as a soldier’s anonymous barracks souvenir.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 12th Company was part of the regiment’s III Battalion under the standard organization of a late nineteenth-century Prussian infantry regiment. This company-level identification is significant. Many surviving reservist pieces name only the regiment, while this saucer narrows the association to the soldier’s immediate company. It would originally have formed part of a coffee or tea service, probably accompanied by a matching cup. Such porcelain was commonly commissioned or purchased near major garrisons and presented to parents, sweethearts, siblings, or other relatives as a tangible reminder of a soldier’s period of compulsory service.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInfanterie-Regiment von Horn (3. Rheinisches) Nr. 29 possessed a distinguished lineage extending back to the Napoleonic era. It was formed in December 1813 from the former 2nd Bergisches Infantry Regiment and entered the Prussian Army as the 29th Infantry Regiment in 1815. Its early combat record included the Waterloo campaign, during which the regiment participated in the fighting at Ligny and Waterloo. It later served during the suppression of the Baden Revolution in 1849, fought against Austria in 1866, and took part in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, including operations connected with Gravelotte, Metz, Amiens, the Hallue, Péronne, and Saint-Quentin. \u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe regiment received the territorial designation “3. Rheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 29” in 1860. On January 27, 1889, Kaiser Wilhelm II granted it the honorific name “von Horn” in memory of Prussian Generalleutnant Heinrich Wilhelm von Horn, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and the Prussian military reforms. Consequently, this 1892 saucer dates from only three years after the regiment formally adopted the title appearing in its inscription. The wording is therefore fully consistent with the object’s stated date and represents the regiment during the early years of its von Horn identity. The naming order is also documented in the holdings of the German Federal Archives. \u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy this period the regiment was closely associated with Trier, the ancient city on the Moselle that served as an important Prussian garrison and administrative center in the Rhine Province. The regiment eventually occupied the Hornkaserne, named for the same officer commemorated in its official title. Trier’s proximity to the western frontier gave its garrison particular strategic importance within the German Empire. Soldiers stationed there trained within the structure of the VIII Army Corps and formed part of the military system guarding the Rhineland and approaches toward Luxembourg and France.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe date 1892 places Philipp’s service in the mature peacetime army of Wilhelm II, before the accelerated military expansion and political tensions of the early twentieth century. A soldier of the 12th Company would have experienced a highly regulated cycle of drill, weapons instruction, route marches, field exercises, guard duty, inspections, and large-scale maneuvers. Infantry service was physically demanding and socially formative. For many conscripts it represented their first extended absence from their village or family home, which helps explain the popularity of personalized porcelain gifts and other sentimental keepsakes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eObjects of this type also reflect the importance of coffee culture within German family life. A saucer bearing a son’s military information could be used or displayed in the parental home, integrating his service into the ordinary domestic setting. The military inscription, clasped hands, flowers, and reference to filial love deliberately soften the impersonality of regimental life. The saucer was not simply a patriotic emblem; it was an object intended to preserve an emotional relationship across distance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe underside is glazed white and displays a raised circular foot ring. Two faint impressed marks are visible within the recessed base, appearing approximately as “M12” and “68,” although their pale impression prevents a definitive reading. These are probably factory, mold, decorator, or production-control marks rather than a regimentally significant inscription. No sufficiently distinct manufacturer’s trademark is present to support attribution to a particular porcelain factory. Period military porcelains were frequently assembled through regional decorating workshops that purchased plain blanks and added personalized inscriptions to order.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe saucer remains visually compelling, with the central image, date, personal reference, company, regiment, and garrison still readily legible. The colored decoration retains considerable definition, including the clasped hands, uniform cuff, gilt buttons, flowers, and foliage. The white porcelain remains comparatively bright, with scattered dark specks, minor surface marks, and localized age discoloration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe gilded decoration exhibits honest wear from handling and use. Losses are most noticeable along the broad rim band, the narrow inner lines, and the scrolling floral ornaments. Some sections remain bright, while others have thinned to a muted brown or gray trace. This uneven survival is consistent with an object that was periodically handled, washed, or displayed over more than a century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral fine radial hairlines are visible across the upper surface, extending through portions of the well and toward the outer edge. None appears materially displaced in the supplied photographs, but they should be regarded as genuine age-related hairlines rather than dismissed as simple decoration. The saucer should therefore be handled as a historical display piece. The rim appears substantially complete, with no major missing section visible, and the center remains intact despite the hairlines. The exposed foot ring shows expected shelf wear and accumulated age-darkening.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough the original matching cup is no longer present, the saucer stands on its own as a historically specific and unusually personal artifact. Its principal collector value lies in the combination of the early 1892 date, probable identification of the soldier as Philipp, the 12th Company designation, the full Infanterie-Regiment von Horn attribution, and the Trier garrison association. It would be particularly appropriate for a collection devoted to Imperial German regimental porcelain, Rhineland military history, the Prussian Army, Trier garrison material, named soldier memorabilia, or Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 29.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50330658078959,"sku":"18-127","price":97.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/9169\/5855\/files\/18-127_1.jpg?v=1785979291","url":"https:\/\/derrittmeister.com\/products\/1892-trier-ir-29-von-horn-named-porcelain-military-saucer","provider":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}