Product Description
Giacinto Melillo, Naples “Etruscan Revival” 18K gold articulated pendant brooch, original fruit wood and velvet box c. 1870

Giacinto Melillo, Naples “Etruscan Revival” 18K gold articulated pendant brooch, original fruit wood and velvet box c. 1870
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.
MELLERIO PARIS Italy/ France
Gyroscope cigarette box c.1930
French silver (950 silver standard) in a structural form of a gyroscope with a lever for an interior lifting mechanism, gilding
Marks: Mellerio Paris, 3776 D, head of Minerva French guarantee mark for 950/1000
H: 5 1/4″ x Dia: 4 1/4″
The renowned Mellerio family and their jewelry can be traced back to Lombardy, Italy as early as the 16th century. Some family members moved to Paris and became royal jewelers for Louis XIII. The revolutions of 1789 and 1848 interrupted their business and they moved to Madrid where they became the jewelers favored by Queen Isabel II. Later in the 19th century they returned to Paris where once again they prospered and participated in several international expositions including London (1862), Paris (1867, 1878 and 1900), and Vienna (1873). In the 20th century they exhibited at the renowned Paris 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and then in New York at the 1939 World’s Fair.
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
CHINESE ART DECO
Covered box c. 1930
Cloisonne enamel in a fantasy of archaic Chinese motifs in red, royal blue, black white and sand colored abstract designs on a bronze body with a turquoise enameled underside and interior.
H: 2 1/2″ x D: 6 1/4″ x W: 9″