Description:

This unusual antique German beer stein is made of milk glass - the glass that is not transparent. The milk glass emerged at the end of the 18th century as an alternative to the very expensive porcelain. It was produced until mid-1800. To achieve this porcelain-like opaque look, the glass makers used opacifiers - usually bone ash or tin dioxide.

The production of milk glass steins as porcelain substitutes ended in the mid-1800s but some manufacturers still used this material to create some unusual and very beautiful items.

This stein was made in the late 1870s - early 1880s of tan-colored milk glass (let's call it "coffee with milk glass") and hand-painted with wonderfully bright enamels in the very popular at the time style "Japonisme", creating an unusual and absolutely gorgeous beer stein. A lady in traditional Japanese clothes, wearing a colorful kimono, geta sandals and Japanese-style hairpins, is weighing a baby.

It is quite rare - I don't actually know of another similar stein from this period. The stein is featured in Gary Kirsner's "The Beer Stein Book" on page 105.

The stein is missing the lid inlay. It shows some minor manufacturer's glitches on the inside, not showing on the outside. 

The stein is 0.3 L capacity,  7" tall to the top of the thumblift.