One wouldn't expect an Austian to know what a Mexican tamale is, but here is a schnappes flask imitating one in porcelain! The "Austria" mark would indicate a time shortly after 1891. Condition mint. Approximately 6-3/4 inches in length by two 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...

Incorporating a fortune in Renaissance and later coins, this magnificent set is composed of two large decanters, a covered powder box and a shoe horn. It is marked "Geo.C. Shreve & Co. San Francisco." Circa 1880, superb condition. The decanters are 8-1/2 inches high and 5-1/2 inches wide, the powder box is 5-3/4 inches high and 4-1/4 inches in diameter and the shoe horn is 10-1/4 inches in length and two inches wide at the base...

Elegant in form and decoration, this cup for is a momemto of a visit to Timburgh bei Dureheim to take the waters, the towered town of which is beautifully engraved in a cartoche on the front of the classically tapered body. Silesian, third quarter of the Nineteenth Century, it is in superb condition, with no chips, cracks or breaks.

This elegant vase or tumbler is decorated in the classical Biedermeier style with a scene of Lake Erlaf, the mystical setting made famous by Franz Schubert’s lied, “Am Erlaf-See” (1817). Framed by graceful gilded motifs is a minutely executed Schwartzlot painting (black monochrome)on the outside surface picturing the lake and its surrounding forested mountains and isolated buildings, the whole backed by a whitened surface that gives illumination and depth to the scene...

Beautiful and practical, this small gem is designed to protect a small pocket watch and to display it on a table or mantle when it is not being carried. The finely carved face, with its delicate design of a branch of edelweiss, opens to reveal the velvet-lined compartment and then folds under to form the footed easel stand. German or Swiss, late Nineteenth Century. Closed approximately 3-3/8 inches long by 1-5/8 inches by one inch high, the height when open is about 3-1/8 inches...

In mint condition, this excellent overshot glass decanter by the noted Boston & Sandwich Glass Company would have been the pride of a grand Victorian dining room. There is a built-in pocket for ice and the twisted rope handles are particularly graceful. American, circa 1870, approximately 11 inches tall and 6-1/2 inches at widest point. (This is a genuine antique item, not a Czechoslovakian reproduction.)

In unusually fine state of preservation, this handsome French country snuff box is formed of blond horn studded and bound with brass. Engraved with stylized designs of birds and flowers and highlighted with deep yellow stain and inlaid red enamel, this fine folk art piece dates from the mid-Nineteenth Century and measures approximately 4-1/8 inches by 2-3/4 inches and 7/8 of an inch deep. (For a charmingly time-worn example, see Trocadero item 418544.)

Esthetic Movement butter knife of simple, elegant shape, its only decoration being bright-cut engraving, the top made to resemble anthemion-topped moulded flatware, and a japonesque diagonal-banded design with a spray of marsh flowers on the blade. Initialed with a Gothic letter "P" (could be anything)and hallmarked "Dexter & Haskins" (untraced). Excellent condition. See Trocadero Item #13648 for similar silver.

Alive with bold designs of flower-filled jardinieres and tall stands earing incense burners, this deep bowl is enameled in red and green on underglaze blue, with highlingts of gilding. There is central design of bamboo surrounded by borders; the outer side show a dragon with two pheonixes flying among flames. Below, there is a stylized cloud band above a foot decorated with noughts and crosses. Japanese, late Nineteenth Century, 7-1/2 inches in diameter and three inches high. Mint condition.

Impressive heavy bronze handle from a bucket or small cauldron, with a double-headed-snake bail and nicely shaped lugs. The bail is decorated with interlocked arcs and well-detailed upper edge. Traces of the iron rivets remain. Excellent condition and patina with deeply incised interlocked curves on the bail and fine definition on the snake ends. Full length approximately 10-1/2 inches; custom stand. Roman, late Fourth Century.

This handsome 10-1/4-inch plate features a highly romanticized lakeside scene of Pomerania, with two ladies in local costume meeting near a mill. They are accompanied by a lanky dog, clearly not your standard Pomeranian. The borders are finely executed neo-rococo, with roses and lace and pearls. Approximately 10-1/4 inches in diameter, the Piece is in excellent condition and retains an old sticker saying that it came from someone's grandmother in about 1780...