{"product_id":"prussian-field-artillery-reservist-stein-1895-97-with-lithophane","title":"Prussian Field Artillery Reservist Stein 1895-97 With Lithophane","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is an unusually elaborate Imperial German Prussian field artillery Reservistenkrug (reservist’s commemorative stein), dating from the service period 1895–1897 and combining richly colored porcelain decoration with a translucent lithophane base and a particularly ambitious sculptural pewter lid. Standing approximately 10 inches high to the top of the artillery finial, it represents the highly developed form of personalized military drinking vessel that flourished during the later nineteenth century and became one of the most characteristic souvenirs of peacetime service in Kaiser Wilhelm II’s army.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe vessel is constructed from white glazed porcelain in the traditional half-liter-style reservist stein form, with a cylindrical body, molded lower foot, broad upper collar, angular applied handle, and hinged pewter cover. Its decoration is extensive, incorporating polychrome military scenes, gilded and colored borders, the Prussian eagle, artillery equipment, a period roster of comrades, patriotic inscriptions, and a hidden lithophane molded into the bottom of the vessel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe imagery firmly associates the piece with the artillery arm of the Prussian Army. Multiple scenes depict field guns, mounted personnel, teams of horses, artillerymen working around their pieces, gun smoke, and troops maneuvering in open countryside. The black Prussian eagle appears prominently among the decoration, establishing the state association with Königreich Preußen (Kingdom of Prussia). No sufficiently clear regimental or battery designation is presently observed that would justify assigning the stein to a particular numbered field artillery regiment, and it is therefore cataloged conservatively as a Prussian field artillery reservist stein rather than attributed to a specific unit without supporting evidence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the principal scenes depicts an artillery battery actively serving its guns. Several artillerymen in dark blue uniforms work around a field piece while mounted personnel and horses stand immediately behind them. Heavy gray smoke billows across the composition, communicating the noise and confusion of firing. Above the scene appears the inscription:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Kanonendonner ist unser Gruß!”\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“Cannon thunder is our greeting!”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe phrase was particularly appropriate to artillery reservist steins and expresses the deliberately martial humor characteristic of these privately commissioned military souvenirs. It celebrates the artilleryman through the defining sound of his branch of service: the report of the field gun.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA second artillery scene presents a broader landscape with gun crews, horses, and military movement along a road or open field. The painted backgrounds are surprisingly detailed for an object of this type, incorporating distant buildings, fields, trees, water, horizon lines, and a graduated sky. These scenes were intended not as precise records of a specific battle but as idealized representations of military training, maneuver, and artillery service.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAround the upper porcelain collar runs another period artillery verse. The surviving wording reads:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Donner, Hagel, Mord u. Blitz, alles kommt aus dem Geschütz.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe abbreviation “u.” represents “und,” meaning “and.” In English the phrase may be rendered:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Thunder, hail, killing and lightning, all come from the gun.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe wording is characteristic of the assertive military verse used on reservist objects during the Wilhelmine period. Such inscriptions often combined humor, bravado, military pride, and exaggerated descriptions of the destructive power of a soldier’s particular branch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother prominent inscription reads:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Zur Erinnerung an meine Dienstzeit.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis translates as:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“In remembrance of my time in service.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat phrase explains the essential purpose of the object. A Reservistenkrug was not an officially issued piece of military equipment and was not an award. Rather, it was a privately purchased commemorative object ordered by a soldier as he approached the completion of active compulsory service and his transfer into the reserve. The vessel became a permanent record of a brief but formative period in the owner’s life and frequently incorporated his regiment, battery or company, service dates, comrades, branch insignia, and military scenes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA handwritten inscription on the body reads:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Reserve 95-97.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis indicates the 1895–1897 service or reserve cohort and provides the most important dating evidence on the piece. The dates place the stein squarely within the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II and within the great period of expansion and ceremonial elaboration that characterized the Imperial German Army during the final decades before the First World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlongside the principal decoration is an extensive vertical roster of surnames. These names almost certainly preserve members of the owner’s military cohort or comrades associated with his service. Portions remain quite clear, while others are compressed into the surrounding decoration or have become difficult to distinguish after more than a century. Because several letters permit multiple readings, individual names should not be expanded beyond what can presently be established with confidence. Nevertheless, the survival of the roster greatly enhances the stein’s historical character: it transforms the object from generic artillery decoration into a souvenir associated with a specific group of men who served together during the 1895–1897 period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe decorative treatment surrounding the roster is particularly elaborate. Artillery implements, edged weapons, banners, military headgear, and ornamental scrollwork frame a large Prussian eagle beneath a royal crown. Black, white, red, gold, blue, and burgundy tones are combined with extensive gilt detailing, producing the dense visual effect typical of better-grade reservist porcelain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe black eagle was the dominant heraldic emblem of Prussia and immediately communicated the state identity of the soldier. This distinction matters within the federal structure of the German Empire. Although the German Empire had existed since 1871 under the Prussian Hohenzollern emperor, its constituent kingdoms and states continued to maintain important elements of their individual military identity. A Prussian soldier therefore served within the larger Imperial German military structure while remaining visibly and institutionally associated with Prussia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe artillery imagery is equally important. Field artillery was the mobile gun arm intended to operate with the army in the field. Its effectiveness required far more than simply firing a cannon. Batteries depended upon trained cannoneers, drivers, horses, limbers, ammunition wagons, officers, noncommissioned officers, artificers, and supporting personnel working in carefully drilled coordination. The repeated presence of horses on the stein reflects the central role of animal traction before motorization. Guns, ammunition, and supporting equipment had to move rapidly enough to accompany formations on maneuver, and artillery training therefore required both technical skill and disciplined horsemanship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis relationship between horse, gun, and artilleryman is illustrated repeatedly around the body. Some figures work directly at the cannon while others remain mounted or control teams. The imagery preserves the appearance of field artillery during the era immediately before mechanical transport and modern indirect-fire techniques transformed the arm during the twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pewter lid elevates this example well above the simplest reservist steins. Rather than a plain domed cover, the lower portion is deeply cast with an uninterrupted sequence of military trophies and artillery-related devices. Cannon barrels, wheels, tools, equipment, foliage, and other martial motifs emerge in high relief around the circumference. The casting retains substantial depth and detail, with a naturally developed dark gray patina emphasizing the recessed elements.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAbove this richly decorated lower section rises a second pedestal supporting a fully sculptural artillery finial. Two artillerymen are represented working beside a substantial field gun with large spoked wheels. The gun carriage, wheels, barrel, crewmen, and supporting platform are rendered completely in the round, allowing the miniature composition to be viewed from multiple directions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eImportantly, the two artillerymen themselves appear to retain their heads. What has suffered a notable loss is the separate eagle-form thumb lift positioned at the rear of the lid. The eagle survives with its broad spread wings, body, legs, and attachment to the hinge assembly, but its head is absent. The break is plainly visible at the neck. This is an important condition issue and is reflected in the valuation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe surviving artillery finial remains an unusually appealing piece of pewter sculpture despite that loss elsewhere on the lid. One gunner bends into his task beside the wheel while the second stands closer to the rear of the piece. The large open-spoked wheels provide visual depth, and the entire group projects well above the lid rather than being merely cast into its surface.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe eagle thumb lift would originally have provided both decoration and leverage for opening the stein. Eagles were natural choices for Prussian military vessels because of their association with the Prussian state and monarchy. Even in its incomplete state, the spread-winged bird remains substantial and unmistakable as a military-historical decorative element.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe white porcelain handle is angular and comparatively restrained, permitting the more elaborate lid and painted body to dominate the design. The pewter hinge wraps around the upper handle and remains connected to the cover. Normal age toning and oxidation are present throughout the metalwork.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe base incorporates one of the most desirable characteristics of period reservist steins: an integral Bodenlithophanie (base lithophane). A lithophane is an image molded into porcelain in varying thicknesses rather than simply painted onto the surface. When the empty vessel is held toward a strong light source, light passes through the thinner areas more readily than the thicker portions and a hidden image suddenly becomes visible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe lithophane in this example depicts a sentimental domestic or farewell scene involving several figures, including a man and woman. Such romantic or departure subjects were particularly appropriate for reservist souvenirs. The soldier finishing his active service was leaving military life and returning to family, sweetheart, employment, and civilian society. The hidden image provided a private and more sentimental contrast to the cannons, eagles, slogans, and military bravado decorating the exterior.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reservist stein tradition became especially prominent during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Compulsory military service brought young men from towns, villages, trades, farms, and families throughout the German states into the structured environment of the army. Completion of service was an important personal milestone. The departing soldier did not cease his military obligation entirely but moved into the reserve system, hence the enduring popularity of the term Reservist in the inscriptions and imagery of these commemorative pieces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eManufacturers and decorators developed an extraordinary range of standardized and semi-customizable steins for this market. The purchaser could select a vessel appropriate to infantry, cavalry, artillery, pioneers, railway troops, medical services, or other branches. Transfer-printed scenes and inscriptions could be supplemented with hand coloring, names, unit rosters, dates, lithophanes, and specialized pewter finials. Higher-grade examples became increasingly elaborate, with sculptural lids specifically matching the wearer’s branch of service.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis artillery example embodies that development particularly well. It does not rely upon a single cannon image to communicate the owner’s service. Virtually every major decorative component reinforces the artillery theme: smoking field guns, horse teams, cannoneers, martial poetry, artillery equipment molded into the lid, and a three-dimensional gun crew crowning the entire vessel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 1895–1897 date is also significant within the broader history of Imperial Germany. These were years of peace for the German Empire, but the army occupied a highly visible position in public culture. Military service connected citizens to the state and monarchy, and regimental identity frequently remained important long after active service ended. Veterans’ associations, reunions, photographs, pipes, steins, certificates, and other Erinnerungsstücke, or remembrance objects, preserved these connections throughout civilian life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is therefore a substantial historical difference between a reservist stein created during the peaceful 1890s and a combat souvenir taken from a battlefield. This piece represents the social and personal culture of the Imperial Army: military pride, comradeship, branch identity, state loyalty, and the transition of a conscript back into civilian life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition of the porcelain body is quite pleasing. The principal military scenes remain strongly colored, with blues, reds, golds, greens, browns, and blacks retaining good visual intensity. The gilded molded bands above and below the primary body remain attractive, with scattered rubbing, small marks, and localized finish wear consistent with age and handling. Fine scratches and minor surface irregularities are present throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe inscriptions remain substantially legible, although areas of the fine script have naturally softened or faded. The roster presents some particularly difficult readings where individual names overlap surrounding decorative elements. The Prussian eagle and associated military decoration remain strong and visually prominent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe porcelain handle remains present, and the vessel displays well as a complete drinking stein. No major structural damage to the main porcelain body is presently apparent, although expected age wear and small surface imperfections are present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe lithophane remains functional and produces a readily recognizable image when illuminated, an important condition and collector point. Lithophanes are vulnerable to cracking and impact because they form part of the base itself, so survival of a clearly transmitting image materially improves the appeal of an original reservist stein.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pewter lid exhibits an attractive darkened age patina, scattered oxidation, rubbing, fine scratches, and minor surface deformation consistent with long handling. The elaborate artillery relief remains well defined. The cannon and its two crewmen survive substantially intact, including the figures’ heads. The primary loss is to the eagle-form thumb lift, whose head is missing. The remainder of the eagle, including the broad wings and body, survives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite that flaw, this remains a highly decorative and historically rich example of the Imperial German Reservistenkrug tradition. Its desirability rests on the combination of an early 1895–1897 service date, Prussian artillery association, extensive named roster, vivid multiscene porcelain decoration, intact lithophane, artillery poetry, highly detailed relief pewter lid, and sculptural cannon crew finial.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a collector of Imperial German home décor, artillery material, reservist memorabilia, or Wilhelmine military culture, it provides an unusually complete visual record of the pride surrounding service in the Prussian artillery during the closing years of the nineteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50551513055471,"sku":"18-130","price":425.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/9169\/5855\/files\/18-130_2.jpg?v=1787174618","url":"https:\/\/derrittmeister.com\/products\/prussian-field-artillery-reservist-stein-1895-97-with-lithophane","provider":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}