Stoneware Allasch "Orlow" bottle. Posen [present-day Poznań, Poland]: Hartwig Kantorowicz, circa 1900. Approx. h. 8 1/2 in. diam. 3 1/2 in.

Glazed in white, the bottle features a Star of David with a fish bearing the legend: "Allasch / 'Orlow' / H K / Anno 1823 / Hartwig Kantorowicz / Posen." 

A fine example of an Allasch liqueur bottle produced by Hartwig Kantorowicz. The company bears the name of its founder, Hartwig Kantorowicz, a highly respected German-Jewish citizen of Poznań (present-day Poland), who founded a vodka and liqueur factory in 1823. Allasch, a type of kümmel or caraway liqueur, with the brand name "Orlow." The label prominently features the company's Jewish identity. 

Poznań was a part of the German Reich from 1919 until the Nazi-Soviet Invasion of 1939 and was a hotbed of increasing anti-semitism and Jewish segregation. Several members of the prosperous Kantorowicz family emigrated to the United States, including Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz (1895-1963). Heir to the distillery, he fought for Germany in the First World War, receiving the Iron Cross II Class and the Gallipoli Star,  and became a well-respected scholar of medieval history. He moved to the United States, accepting a professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, and later at Princeton University. 

A large and pristine example with excellent luster. An interesting example of Jewish businesses operating in central Europe in the pre-war era. 

[Stoneware, Ceramics, Decorative Art] [Judaica, Jewish History, Jewish Art, Jewish Business]