Code: CE1603158
Dimensions:
A rare antique Austrian or Bohemian majolica pottery figure of a Infantry soldier, a Bavarian Reservist in light grey uniform dating from the latter 19th century. The figure stands raised on an oval shaped base with the words LIEB VATERLAND MAGST RUHIG SEIN from the German patriotic anthem Die Wacht am Rhein (The Watch/Guard on the Rhein). The soldier is dressed in military uniform with his rifle by his side, his bayonet hanging from his waist and wearing an ammunition backpack. The base is impressed 2163.
There are couple of very minor surface glaze chips.
The Bavarian reservists were called up for service late in 1914. This figure is wearing the standard Fieldgrey wool uniform with Brandenburg cuffs and the Stehumfallkragen (stand and fall collar), a very uncomfortable back pack and leather jackboots, unchanged since 1870. He is wearing a leather or enameled tin pickelhaube. The feather bayonet which became obsolete is in its scabbard and hanging from his waist belt and had a very thin blade and is over 24 inches long. Later the bayonet was altered to have a shorter and wider blade, the so called 'butcher' bayonet, as its shape resembled the large knife a butcher would use. His 3 section leather ammo pouches hold fifteen rounds in each section for a total of ninety rounds, a further one hundred and fifty rounds were carried in the pack. His belt buckle is iron and would have had the Bavarian king's crown surrounded by the Bavarian State motto, In Treue Fest (In Loyalty Steadfast).
Origin : Austria
Manufacture Date : Late 19th Century
Materials : Pottery
