This traditional ceramic beer mug, produced by Villeroy & Boch in the 1970s or 1980s, features colourful depictions of uniformed soldiers from the Luxembourg federal contingent. Alongside soldiers of the infantry and gendarmerie, the mug also displays the coat of arms of Luxembourg and the inscription "Bundes Contingent Luxemburg 1842-1867".

The beer mug is fitted with a characteristic, hinged pewter lid that is operated by a thumb lever. Such lids were originally designed to hygienically protect the beer from impurities such as insects or dust, especially in the open-air beer gardens of the 19th century.

Unlike the only two surviving contemporary paintings of officers of the Luxembourg Federal Contingent, the overwhelming majority of the representations emerged only twenty to thirty years after its dissolution, around the turn of the 19th century. These later depictions continue to shape the romanticized image of the federal contingent to the presentday.

The uniforms of the hunters on foot, on horseback and the artillery of the contingent were first painted in bright guache colours in a primitivist style, by the Luxembourger Louis Kuschmann (1852-1921), who may still have seen the soldiers as a young man. His motifs quickly became popular, especially in the form of postcards. Throughout his life, Kuschmann tried to accurately reconstruct the equipment of the Federal contingent, which he tried to find with the help of the National Museum's collections. Yet, what appears coherent at first glance sometimes turns out - on closer inspection, such as in the details of various sabers - to include invented additions. So, caution is advised when selecting sources!

Kuschmann’s German contemporary, Richard Knötel (1857-1914), published in 1896, around the same time, the "Handbuch der Uniformenkunde" (Handbook of Uniformology). In its 15th volume on the "German Army," the Luxembourg federal contingent and the gendarmerie are also illustrated. Knötel never saw either the federal contingent or the gendarmerie. His source for this was a certain Captain W. Staring in Zutphen, an officer in the Royal Dutch Army, who sent him information about the colours and shapes of the uniforms (Knötel, Uniformenkunde, Vol. XV, No. 25).

As soon as it appeared, this set off a certain tradition: Joseph-Germain Strock (1865-1923) already drew inspiration from both "K and K," Kuschmann and Knötel, for his own work on the federal contingent.

In the 1970s and 80s, series from Villeroy & Boch emerged that explicitly referenced the designs of Kuschmann, Knötel and Strock, thus further idealising the depiction of the Luxembourg army of the 19th century in the 20th century.

See also:

• 1942-103/002 (L. Kuschmann: Mounted artillery)
• 1942-103/003 (L. Kuschmann: Foot artillery)
• 1942-103/005 (L. Kuschmann: Chasseurs)
• 1942-103/006 (L. Kuschmann: Uniforms 1847-1860 and 1860-1868)
• 1941-008/001 (R. Knötel: Uniforms of the maréchaussée and the gendarmerie)

Text | CC BY-NC | Simone Feis, Ralph Lange, Isabelle Maas, Marc Kaysen