Created at the height of the Terror, this handsome and sturdy saddle-shaped snuff box bears the .950 purity mark and Paris hallmark for 1793, the year of the beheading of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Suggesting the striped silks favored by Revolutionary sympathizers, the interior is gilded, as originally were the broader stripes of the exterior. Incorporating fine integral hinges, it is in lovely condition and measures about 3-1/4 inches by 1-3/4 inches by one inch high. (I have a similar, ...click for details
Bearing the Copenhagen silver standard mark for the year 1887, this elegant small tumbler is decorated with subtly bright-cut engraving of floral branches centering on the name “Ingeborg.” Other mark indicate the maker, “C.Hertz,” and the assay master’s cipher. Excellent condition. Approximately three inches tall and 2-5/8 inches in diameter at the rim.
On this truly fine Austrian beaker the flared body is delicately machine turned with a central shield inscribed, “Hoch,Ehre-Freiheit Recht!” An additional tribute is engraved on the rim of the base: “Am 20 October 1848 Pannasch!” Beautiful condition with one slight dimple on the upper back, hardly noticeable. Hallmarks for Vienna 1847, maker “FT.” Approximately 5-1/4 inches tall and 3-1/4 inches in diameter.
A rare example of High Renaissance metal craft is this small oval platter, hand repousséd brass with a heavy coating of silver which was then carefully polished to simulate the real thing, all this in a time when labor was cheap and silver the main expression of status. The central scene is chinoiserie, an oriental court tableau of a potentate and his consort being serenaded by a standing figure playing an enormous trumpet. Oh, what joy! The condition of the thing is very good, its only noti ...click for details
A finely detailed and hefty snuffbox in the Louis XVI-Empire style decorated on all surfaces with classical designs of lambriquins, fronds, flambeaux and a pair of shields among leafy borders and imbricated panels. On the bottom there is engraved in the central lozenge "MA" in probably contemporaneous script with added above and below it in light Roman letters Presented to" and "By S. Berwin, June, 1916." The beautifully preserved vermeil interior bears on the lid the ...click for details
