Steinzeugwerke Catalog

Steinzeugwerke was a consortium initially formed by the Westerwald firms of Reinhold Merkelbach (Grenzhausen), Simon Peter Gerz I (Höhr) and Reinhold Hanke (Höhr), for purposes of joint marketing and sales of each firm's products. The firm was officially registered in 1912, and Walter Müller (Grenzhausen) joined the group in that same year. It was managed by Paul Merkelbach,

As a co-operative this firm was probably viable only from 1912 - 1914. There was limited activity from 1914 - 1918. Reinhold Hanke was likely the only participant after 1918, until in 1921 when that firm had a huge fire ending all operations.

In addition to cooperative sales and marketing, there was also some cooperation in production, primarily observed as a sharing of molds between Merkelbach, Gerz and Hanke. When molds of one company were used by another, the original form number was marked on the base, but the firm which did the fabrication applied their own trademark, if any. Thus we occasionally find a model which we know to be from R. Merkelbach bearing a Gerz logo, and vice versa.

This illustrated price-catalog which has become known as the "Preiscourant" (32 Tafeln or tables, including four tables of museum reproductions, and two tables of figurines) was published in 1912. The remaining 26 Tafeln are devoted to artistic (Jugendstil) stoneware. With the exception of the museum reproductions, there are no traditional, historismus or Altdeutsche forms. Each Tafel consists of a group photo and a listing which includes information for each item in the photo (size, design attribution, glaze and price). The catalog does not show a date, nor does it refer to any of its member companies directly.

The Preiscourant includes products of R. Merkelbach, S. P. Gerz and R. Hanke, exclusively (no Müller items). The member firms continued to mark their products with their standard marks. Identification (attribution) of these items is further eased by the fact that the majority were designed by well known designers, and the origins of the designs are confirmed by company records and contemporary literature. The catalog is dominated by R. Merkelbach: In addition to the museum reproductions (four pages) and the figurines (2 pages), products which were originally produced by R. Merkelbach and continue to be produced by them exclusively comprise 16 of the remaining 26 Tafeln.

Ten Tafeln are dedicated to the forms which were shared among members of the consortium. The form number is listed with a one-letter prefix - M, G or H - signifying Merkelbach, Gerz or Hanke as the original owner and producer of the design (model).

R. Merkelbach had registered design numbers up to 2330 prior to the formation of the consortium in 1912. In general, new designs which were the exclusive province of R. Merkelbach were given numbers starting at 3000, although Merkelbach did issue some items with form number in the 2400's.

An understanding of this catalog is greatly enhanced by material presented in the books Die Neue Ära by Jürgen Erlebach and Jürgen Schimanski (which includes photos and descriptions of stoneware produced by Gerz, Hanke and Merkelbach), and R. Merkelbach, Spezialpreisliste 1905 (by Beate Dry-von-Zeschwitz) which includes a copy of the 1905 pricelist as well as biographical information about a number of Jugendstil designers.

Notes:

DNA #220 is attributed to Merkelbach, although Tafel 23 indicates it was originally by Gerz

DNA #259 is attributed to Merkelbach, although Tafel 26 indicates it was originally by Hanke

DNA #258 is attributed to Merkelbach, although Tafel 29 indicates it was originally by Hanke



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