German Jug commemorating 49th Union in 1933. Art or Exotica?

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by: martyboy

Description: For sale is a recently acquired one half litre stoneware jug-carafe with the lettering '49 Verbandstag am Deutschen' inscribed amongst vines, grapes, and a swastika. With the date of 1933 below the swastike it seems to have been produced to commemorate the 49th anniversary of some sort of union or joining together of an area, place or kinsfolk.

It is a very rare thing. I have searched the internet and can find only one other mentioned. An ex US serviceman's son was asking for information, and a valuation, for a similar jug his father had 'liberated' from a Bavarian hostelry in the 1960's.
What is known is that it's a Westerwald stoneware jug finished in a salt wash. It stands 6 and a half inches tall and 4 and a half wide.
The central inset, and raison d'etre of the piece, contains the scene of a horse and rider atop a monument amid splendid architecture with a cobalt backdrop.
The rider is most likely to be Frederik der Grosse and the city Koblenz. A statue of Frederick the Great was erected at the end of the nineteenth century having been removed and re-erected, as opinions of him changed, and the citizen's of the area did indeed express their wish to return to the Germanic fold.
The swastika and date (1933 ) was the year that 'the austrian corporal' as Winston Churchill labelled him became Chancellor of Germany. Was it, by bringing the date forward a year from the usually normal 50th anniversary, an attempt to present both AH and Frederik as Great heroic leaders and equals.
This is of course one option but the beauty of a piece like this is that the new owner will surely want to enjoy the investigation, and chasing up, of it's authencitity and previous history.
The valuation for the similar US held Bavarian jug was in the low $1000's a decade or so ago.
This one is not perfect as there is a small chip on the rim.
I am asking for a very reasonable £255 and will provide free postage within the UK.

My thanks to Martin Bull and Drmessimer for the valuable historical information provided.



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