Early German stoneware

Stoneware is a type of clay pottery that is fired at a very high temperature, typically around 1200°C to 1400°C, that gives a very hard, stone-like result that is impervious to water and other liquids.

Because of the high kiln temperatures required for stoneware manufacture, a large amount of fuel is needed. This was available from the well-wooded slopes of Germany’s River Rhine, and the local presence of clay of the right type made the Rhineland a centre for stoneware production from as early as the 13^th century. The peak of the industry in the district between Cologne and Coblenz was in the 15^th and 16^th centuries.

One prominent early centre was to the west of the Rhineland, namely Raeren which is actually in modern-day Belgium. Jan Emens Mennicken was a prolific potter here in the late 16^th century, as were other members of his family. Siegburg, near Bonn, was another town in which generations of potter families produced stoneware up to about 1600, after which the focus of manufacture moved eastwards into the Westerwald, where it continued well into the 18^th century.

Other areas of Germany produced stoneware from the 16^th century onwards, particularly Bavaria and Saxony. However, not much stoneware was made after the mid-18^th century apart from some 19^th century copies of earlier types.

One characteristic feature of German stoneware was the use of salt glazes. Although glazing was not strictly necessary, given the watertight nature of the product, this was done for decorative purposes. Lead glazes would not have survived the high kiln temperatures so the practice was to throw salt into the kiln during the firing, thus producing a colourless and even glaze. The characteristic appearance of these early pieces is therefore a glossy and slightly wrinkled surface that resembles the skin of an orange in texture.

The colour range was limited, with iron, cobalt and manganese being used to produce brown, blue or purple colourings respectively. Many early Siegburg pieces were often uncoloured and unglazed.

Stoneware usually took the form of tankards and jugs, often with silver or silver-gilt hinged lids. A typical tankard was the tall and straight-sided “schnelle”, with a handle, whereas jugs would be rounded and short-necked.

One particularly characteristic form was the “Bellarmine” or “Greybeard”, a decorated wine-bottle that is named from its caricature of a much disliked Catholic Cardinal, Roberto Bellarmino (1542-1621), who had annoyed the Protestants of northern Germany with his anti-Reformation writings. The cardinal’s face was depicted in low relief on the neck with his beard spreading over the top part of the bulbous bottle. One is reminded of the English Toby jug in terms of the general concept, although the two forms are very different in shape.

Many Bellarmines were produced at the three stoneware factories in Cologne, which were well established by the mid-16th century, and also at Frechen, a few miles west of Cologne. The Cologne potters moved there after quarrelling with the city authorities at the end of the 16^th century.

Bellarmines were often produced for sale to visitors to the region, or for export, and quality was sometimes sacrificed for quantity. Inscriptions of German texts were sometimes translated into English (or other languages) by people with only a rudimentary knowledge of the language, with somewhat amusing results.

Stoneware was usually decorated with figures, armorial crests or floral designs in low relief, these being impressed into the clay from a mould. Popular themes for decoration were scenes from the Bible or ancient history. The moulds often included dates and maker’s initials, and these moulds were passed down family lines and transported when a pottery moved from one town to another. This can therefore cause confusion when attempting to assign a date or potter to a particular piece.

Stoneware made in the Westerwald towns of Höhr, Grenzau and Grenzhausen resembled, at first, that of the Siegburg and Raeren potters who had moved there but, as the 17^th century progressed, a more distinctive type emerged, comprising grey-coloured stoneware with painted blue decoration. Relief decoration gave way to rosettes, masks and other designs that were stuck on to the base pot rather than impressed from a mould. This would be done in conjunction with incised lines and dots, emphasised in blue or purple paint. Much of this pottery was produced for export.

Stoneware of this period commands high prices when offered for sale, and (relatively) mass-produced export items are more likely to appear than those pieces designed for domestic use. Later forgeries are known to exist, and there is the problem noted above of dates that can be inaccurate, sometimes by as much as 100 years.

Many excellent pieces of early German stoneware can be seen in museums, a particularly fine display forming part of the Glaisher Collection at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England.

© John Welford