"Three Legends of the Rhine"

Matthias Girmscheid - mold 806

From the collection of Paulo Vik Falcon

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Three Legends of the Rhine. This large antique mug was made between 1895 and 1905 by the Matthias Girmscheid factory.
Matthias Girmscheid was born in 1845 to a family of merchants and continued the family business. In 1870, he opened his own trading firm in the town of Hör (now Hör-Grentzhausen), located in the heart of Germany's main ceramic-producing region. In 1871, Matthias Girmscheid married Therese Herz, the daughter of the potter Philipp Jacob Herz. This undoubtedly influenced Matthias Girmscheid's decision to shift his focus from trading to manufacturing.
Girmscheid's manufacturing company was established in 1884 and initially focused on producing clay water pipes. In government records from 1893, the company was listed as a pipe factory with ten employees. It is not known when Girmscheid expanded his business to include the production of beer mugs and other ceramic items, but by 1903, the company was listed as a "ceramic factory" with forty employees. You can read more about Matthias Girmscheid's life and creative legacy at the following link:
[link]
The design of this large 3-liter jug called "Three Legends of the Rhine" for the Matthias Girmscheid manufactory was created by the artist and designer
(Anton) Killian "Karl" Beuler. On the front of the jug, he placed his signature in the form of two letters, KB. The artist's signature can be seen slightly below and behind the figure of the nymph Loreley.

(Anton) Killian "Karl" Beiler was born in 1865. He lived and worked in the town of Höhr, Hesse-Nassau, Prussia (now Höhr-Grenzhausen, Rhineland-Palatinate).
Operator and modeler, designer.By 1910, he was living at 6 Rheinstrasse. In 1912-1922, he moved to 23 Schützenstrasse. He died in 1928, leaving a widow.
From 1890 to 1928, he was actively involved in modeling. [link]

To understand the content of the jug's artistic design, I will provide a brief description of three ancient German Rhenish legends, which the artist illustrated:
The Loreley is a mythical nymph who is said to have once sat on a summit above the Rhine river singing songs and tempting boatmen to potential disaster on the rocks below with her haunting music and stunning beauty.

The Last Templar story takes place at the Castle Lahneck, where twelve Templars made their final stand against the forces of the Archbishop of Mainz, who wanted the castle for himself. After days of fighting only one Templar remained alive and, in recognition of his heroism, the Archbishop informed him that he would be allowed to surrender. Cursing the greedy cleric, the last Templar raised his sword and rushed to his death at the hands of his enemies.

The Legend of Falkenburg tells the tale of a young knight (Guntram) who is enchanted by the ghost of a beautiful dead maiden (Girlinde) with whom he is unfaithful to his betrothed (Dietlinde). Gutram then returns to Dietlinde and proceeds with their marriage, but the ghost of Girlinde appears at the wedding ceremony and lays a cold hand on Guntram, resulting in his lingering death. [link]

View the collection of Paulo Vik Falcon

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