Product Description
George Richards Elkington British Sterling Trompe L’Oeil Covered Box 1854

George Richards Elkington (1801-1865)
Trompe L’Oeil Box 1854
Sterling silver shallow box with a hinged lid of a life-size trompe l’oeil damask napkin neatly folded on a gilt-sterling Georgian dinner plate
Weight: 45 troy ounces
Marks: GRE makers mark, London hallmarks for 1854
H: 2″ x Dia: 10 1/2″
George Richards Elkington British Sterling Trompe L’Oeil Covered Box 1854
BLACK STARR & FROST New York, NY
Art Nouveau Sterling and Mahogany Jewelry Box c.1900
Mahogany jewelry box with thick sterling silver decorative graphic mountings in an elaborate Art Nouveau whiplash design, original key
Marks: Eagle mark (Company logo) BLACK STARR & FROST, Sterling
For more information see: American Jewelry Manufacturers, Dorothy T. Rainwater (West Chester, Penn.: Schiffer, 1988)
H: 4 1/2″ x W: 10 1/2″ x D: 7″
SOLD
One of America’s oldest fine jewelers, Black, Starr and Frost traces its roots to 1810. In that year, Erastus Barton and Frederick Marquand opened Marquand and Barton near New York’s Maiden Lane. The firm added and lost partners numerous times and it also frequently moved locations in accordance with the addresses of its prestigious clientele. Its merchandise was eclectic and greatly varied including, lamps, jewelry, paintings, porcelain, and artistic objects. In 1876, the firm changed its name from Black, Ball, and Co. to Black, Starr, and Frost, and moved to 251 Fifth Avenue. Its inventory became focused on jewelry and silver objects, some imported from Europe, some produced in-house. For many decades, the renowned jewelry house, Black, Starr, and Frost was considered one of the great American jewelers. In 1876, it was invited to exhibit at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia along with renowned firms like Tiffany & Company, Whiting, and Gorham. In 1939, the firm was one of five American jewelers invited to exhibit at the New York’s World’s Fair. In 1929, it merged with Gorham to become Black, Starr, Frost – Gorham.
GISELA VON FALKE (b. 1874) Austria
SCHOOL OF KOLO MOSER Austria
BERNDORFER METALLWARENFABRIK Berndorf, Austria
E. BAKALOWITS & SÖHNE Vienna, Austria [retailer]
Covered box c. 1902
Silver plate mounts and cover, blown “meteor” glass.
Marks: BEPWF 1481, maker’s touch marks
For more information on Berndorfer Metallwarenfabrik see: Blühender Jugendstil – Österreich (Art Nouveau in Blossom – Austria), Firmen und Marken (Companies and Marks), Waltraud Neuwirth, II (Vienna: Selbstverlag Neuwirth, 1991), p. 221; Metallkunst, Kunst vom Jugendstil zur Moderne (1889-1939), Karl H. Bröhan (Berlin: Bröhan Museum, 1990) pp. 20-44.
H: 7″ x W: 8″
Price: $9,000
FRENCH ART DECO
LA MARQUISE DE SEVIGNE Paris
Covered chocolate box 1932
Black and red oil cloth, nickle plated brass
Illustrated in La Marquise de Sevigne Paris vintage ad (see pairing)
Dia: 10″ x H: 3″