The striped stein is an Andersen classic. This rare brown striped stein part of the group of original prototypes. It is signed on the bottom with a hand scripted “A”, painted in brown decorating color against a background circle glazed in white.

Theoriginal group of prototype steins were signed either with an "A" or "Andersen" but not "Andersen Design", indicating that the work was created early on, before Andersen Design became the chosen brand identifier.

Before Weston designed the prototypes for individual pieces, he made many sketches of a complete line of functional forms on any piece of paper handy, including napkins from road side diners, This is likely the original prototype of the stein because he wasn’t thinking about brand identity when he signed it in simple script with his last name.

By the time Dad did the second stein shown with it in some pictures, the idea of a brand identity, complete with a logo, began to evolve as Weston started to sign his work with “A” instead of “Andersen”

In the early fifties Andersen Design was called Ceramics by Anderson.

This stein is a product of a moment in history.

Andersen Design is an American Designer Craftsmen Studio established by Weston and Brenda Andersen in 1952 on Southport Island, Maine, USA. The studio was started with a philosophy of creating hand crafted products affordable to the middle class. Andersen Design remained an American made ceramic studio when most of the western ceramic industry moved production to foreign labor markets and competed successfully in a market flooded with foreign made imports, producing a hand-made art product affordable to the middle class. Andersen Design stands as a singular American original design company taking a unique alternative path during an era of global transformation.