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This unusual antique German beer stein is made of milk glass. Milk glass emerged at the end of the 18th century as an alternative to the very expensive porcelain. It was produced until the mid-1800s. To achieve this porcelain-like opaque look, the glass makers used opacifiers—usually bone ash or tin dioxide.

The stein was made around 1820 - 1830 in the so-called Biedermeier period. It was hand-blown and decorated with stylish and elegant, subtle enameled floral motifs. There is a large pontil mark on the bottom.

The mounting consists of a highly ornate pewter lid with a beautiful urn-shaped thumblift - very typical for the Biedermeier period. The lid is engraved with the initials "F.H."

The stein is in excellent condition with some minor age-related wear - a rare occurrence for a milk glass that old.

Please note that the handle-attaching technique at the time was as follows: first, the upper part of the handle was attached when it was still very hot, then the arc was formed, the lower part of the handle was attached, and the rest of the handle-forming glass was "snapped" from the stein when it has already cooled, resulting in a kind of messy lower attachment. This technique was used till the 1850s- 1860s. The same with the pontil mark - A pontil mark or punt mark is the scar where the pontil was broken from a work of blown glass. Since it was done at the time when the glass is cooled down, it results in scar with sharp edges.

The stein is  8" tall to the top of the thumblift, 0.5L