Thursday, March 11, 2010

Painted pewter



The German tradition of painted pewter ornaments has been kept alive at Wilhelm Schneizer Pewter since 1796. The metal is mostly flat in slight bas relief, but it looks fully three dimensional thanks to the detail on the penguin, his star-topped tree, the sled full of Christmas presents tied with wide ribbon bows and the basket of yummy looking fish balanced on top.
It came from Christmas Rocks in Houston, when I was in town to finish off another collection of mine. The Houston Astros were the last stop on my tour of all the Major League Baseball stadiums. My first was in Oakland in the summer of 1978, just a few months before I got my first penguin tree ornaments. There’s more to tell about the trip to Houston, but I left Christmas Rocks with a big box full of neatly packed ornaments, so there will be plenty of opportunities to tell you more.

Wilhelm Schneizer painted pewter ornament, Diessen, Germany
Acquired: Sept. 27, 2008, Christmas Rocks, Houston, Texas
Number: 509
Price: $23
Size: about 2 inches tall, 2.25 inches long

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