M&B Stock No. 40 "Monk in Wine Cellar"

General
Monks are pretty common as a theme of focal point for beer trays given their reputation as brewers and vintners in European history. They appear on a fair number of trays, stock and non-stock, from most of the major tray manufacturers, sometimes humorously, sometimes seriously. So it’s no great surprise to find a stock example in the M&B catalog—although this design does not appear in any of the catalogues we possess. It does appear in the 1903 price list as “Monk in Wine Cellar.” Apparently, it was part of a pair with No. 41 which the 1903 price list identifies as “Monk’s Repast.” Unfortunately, we’ve never found No. 41 so we are not sure if it depicts the same monk or is different. During this timeframe Jasper Meek was known to go on buying trips, scouring Europe to buy the rights to artwork and there are at least two examples from the right timeframe (one from Eduard von Gruztner and one from Walter Dendy Sadler) with that title. Other Gruztner works are known to have been used in advertising including some trays by Shonk.

Shape & Rim & Ad Text
All examples of this design that we have seen are oval trays with the low pie shaped rim and rolled edge. All sport a faux marble rim design; however, in a break from contemporary M&B stock trays, the border surrounding the image is a strong red, in contrast to the more sedate yellows that were typical. The Kennedy tray ad text references X-mas 1904, so it was probably available into 1905. Advertising text appears in black mainly on the rim with a numerous of advertisers taking advantage of the space provided on the end of the cask for some additional text. A couple of examples (VA Oswald and Isaac Weil) use this space exclusively (ie. no advertising text on the rim).

Hager & Price
This image is not mentioned in Hager but is included in his catalog of pictures. Not surprisingly there are a number of different brewery issuers (as well as liquor dealers) with this design and prices tend to be fairly robust although not quite at the levels as other M&B brewery stock examples of the period. Prices for non-breweries and liquor dealers tend to be far more reasonable.