Ads for sparkling wines by Matheus Müller

Matheus Müller is a German brand of sparkling wines established in 1838 and named after its founder (1773–1847). These full-page ads from 1906 bring together a number of period typefaces.

“Cuvées”, “Matheus Müller” and “Schon seit einem Menschenalter” feature Klingspor’s Steinschrift. Released in the first years of the 20th century, it’s distinguished from other typefaces with this generic name (which is an old German term for sans serifs) by Jugendstil-inspired shapes including curved strokes in B or v. The wines’ qualities emphasized by single and double underlines are shown in Washington-Grotesk. First cast by Woellmer around 1895, it’s derived from their Breite halbfette Grotesk, with fancy swash glyphs added. (A few years earlier, Schelter & Giesecke had done something similar to their Breite halbfette and Breite magere Grotesk, and even used a similar name, see Columbus & Washington.) Washington-Grotesk can be seen with alternate glyphs for a e g t.

The relatively wide grot with double-storey g used for “Hofl[ieferant] S[eine]r Maj[estät des Kaisers und Königs” is similar to Breite halbfette Grotesk or Akzidenz-Grotesk (Bauer). In further roles: Römische Antiqua and the related De Vinne (or one of its German copies). The list of highnesses for which Matheus Müller was purveyor to the court is set in a widespread design known as Moderne Steinschrift, among other names.