This tankard is a fine example of the stoneware ceramics made in the abbey town of Siegburg, Germany. Known as Schnelle, these tall, cylindrical tankards were first produced in Cologne, but Siegburg potters quickly adopted the shape and made it their specialty. The vertical form offered large areas suited to low-relief decoration that encompassed a broad range of mythological, biblical, historical, and heraldic subjects. The panels on this tankard show the biblical heroes Joshua and David, along with Alexander the Great, framed by a variety of ornamental motifs and the coats of arms of several German cities and rulers, combined without apparent significance.

Stoneware was first produced in Europe in the German Rhineland and eastern Netherlands in the 1200s. This type of ceramic becomes impervious to liquids when fired to high temperatures, making it an ideal material for drinking vessels.