Catalog: Vintage Arts (283)

Phenomenal Art Deco cocktail shaker and six matching cocktail glasses by Gorham. The gently curving surface has a quilted appearance created by deeply incised vertical and horizontal lines. The spout and handle are attached to the body with a cobweb-like decorative device. The cocktail glasses are raised on tall stems with knops decorated to match the bowls. The same decorative element is repeated where the stems meet the flaring bases. The interiors of the bowls retain the original gilding. The bottom of each piece is fully hallmarked for Gorham with the year mark for 1928. The shaker is marked with the pattern number GA 13825 and the glasses with GA 13826.

This set was featured in Gorham's 1929 catalogue under the heading, "Sterling Splendor: Eminently Indispensible Silver Necessities of the Luxurious Modern Home." The set was the most expensive shaker offered by Gorham and cost the equivalent of a car or a small farm. Partly as a result of its sellling price, this set is one of the rarest cocktail shakers ever made. Gorham produced silver in the Art Deco and modernist style for only a short period (1926-29) under the guidance of famed silversmith Erik Magnussen worked there. Though it has been attributed to Magnussen (Visakay), it was probably not one of his designs since none of the very few examples are signed by the designer.

Origin: America, 1928. Condition: excellent; shaker has no dings, deep scratches or monograms; two of the glasses have a small flat ding on the edge of the weighted base. Size: shaker, 12" tall; glasses, 5-1/8" tall. Weight: 2,064 grams.

An extremely rare set of 12 sterling silver and enamel tea or coffee spoons from the "Cymric" line produced by Liberty & Co. in partnership with the Birmingham silversmith William Hair Haseler. The stems of the spoons have an incised trailing motif accented with translucent shaded enamels in blue and green. Only a few designers produced spoon designs for the Cymric line, and this style is typical of designs by Archibald Knox around 1910. Each spoon is fully stamped with Liberty’s hallmark and the city and date marks for Birmingham, 1927-8. The spoons are presented in their original silk-lined fitted case, the lid impressed with Liberty’s logo.

• Origin: England, 1927.
• Condition: excellent, no enamel damage, one spoon has a slight flattening at the very tip of the bowl; box in very good condition.
• Dimensions: 4-3/8” long.
• Weight: 148.4 grams.

A very large and heavy sterling silver double jigger with a turned ebony handle by Quaker Silver Co. The cups are decorated with an ornate acanthus leaf and bead design reminiscent of Jensen and other Nordic designers of the early 20th century. The jigger is stamped with Quaker's hallmark.

Origin: America, ca. 1925. Condition: excellent, a couple of very tiny pinpoints along the rim of the smaller cup. Dimensions: 4-15/16" tall; 10-3/4"long. Weight: the silver portion is approximately 150.00 gr.

A beautiful set of six sterling pastry or cake forks designed by Bernard Cuzner for Liberty & Co. in 1923. The handles are elegantly enhanced with blue and green champleve enamel in a sort of peacock feather design. Cuzner was Liberty’s most influential silver designer in the 1920s. This set is fully hallmarked by Liberty and has the date mark for 1928. They are presented in their original silk-lined fitted case.

• Origin: England, 1928
• Condition: excellent, no enamel damage, very minor wear to the case
• Dimensions: 5-1/8” long
• Weight: 86.3 grams

A very handsome Art Deco champagne and cocktail stirrer set of imposing size. Each stirrer has a torpedo-shaped finial complete with fins. The stirrers would be inserted with finial down for aerating a glass of champagne or with the thin end down for stirring a cocktail. The underside of the base is stamped the hallmark of B. Borhmann, a silverplate manufacturer in Frankfurt Germany until the mid-1920s. This set has the streamline, machine-age look of the best German Deco design.

Origin: Germany, ca. 1920. Condition: excellent; minute plating wear. Dimensions: 10” tall; stirrers, 6-3/4”.

A delightful set of six sterling silver Art Deco cocktail picks with finials in the form of the Devil. The little naked figure grasps a flaming torch in one upraised hand and his tail is replaced by the business end of the cocktail pick. No doubt, the picks were intended to remind one, rather tongue in cheek, of the sin of drinking! Each pick is fully hallmarked for Barker Brothers Silver Ltd. The picks are presented in their original velvet- and silk-lined fitted case.

• Origin: Birmingham, England, 1929.
• Condition: picks are excellent; box is very good with minor discoloration to the velvet lining.
• Dimensions: picks, 3-17/32” long.
• Weight: 26.8 grams.

A terrific set of 12 Art Deco silverplated knife rests. The design on the ends combines severely linear elements with bas-relief details—the ultimate in Art Deco styling. Each “porte-couteau” is marked with unidentified French hallmarks.

Origin: France, ca. 1920. Condition: excellent. Size: 3-1/8” long.

A vintage Austrian silver stopper for a wine bottle or decanter, the finial constructed from a coin known as the “Maria Theresa Thaler”. These coins were first minted during the reign of the Empress Maria Theresa, mother of Marie Antoinette. The front depicts Maria Theresa and the back features the imperial Hapsburg double eagle arms. The abbreviated Latin inscription reflects her full title, “Maria Theresa, by grace of God, Empress of the Romans, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria, Duchess of Burgundy, Countess of Tyrol” and includes her personal motto, “Justice and Clemency.” When the Empress died in 1780, the date on the coin was fixed in perpetuity. The coin had a very reliable silver content and became one of the most accepted coins for international trade—especially in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia. It ceased to be used as legal tender in the Austrian empire in 1857, but continued to be minted for international trading purposes. The coin used for this stopper has characteristics usually associated with early 20th century examples, and the hallmark on the stopper’s collar is that used in Vienna after 1922.

Origin: Austria, ca. 1930.

Condition: excellent, sharp detail, all original;

Note that the cork is too wide to fit a wine bottle, but could be shaved down to fit.

Size: 2-1/4” from bottom edge of silver collar to the top of the coin; 1-5/8” wide across the coin.

Weight: 45.0 grams.

An elegant second standard (800/1000 pure silver) French tastevin. Rather than the typical "perles" and fluted "godrons", the bowl of this tastevin is decorated with repousse grape leaves and berries in the 18th century style. This treatment is the classic Dijonais interpretation of the form. The handle is in the tradition form of two entwined snakes grasping an apple in their mouths, thought to remind drinkers of temptation and sin. The tastevin is fully hallmarked and has an unidentified maker's mark (EE with a plumb bob).

• France, ca. 1925
• Condition: excellent, sharp detail, a small porosity blemish (1/4") under the rim on one side
• Dimensions: 3-1/4" x 4-3/16" x 1"
• Weight: 55.7 grams

For centuries, tastevins have been important accessories for French wine lovers, but until now we’ve never seen one that actually depicted “French wine lovers” in such graphic detail! Absolutely nothing is left to the imagination with this grouping of three. The unidentified maker is known to have made a similar tastevin depicting “Pétanque Fanny” merely lifting her skirts from behind. This very rare version goes quite a bit further, with Fanny in the clutches of a pair of old men. The tastevin is in otherwise traditional style. The side is stamped with the maker’s mark “MH”.

Origin: France, ca. 1920. Condition: very good, some dulling of the finish and very slight indentation to the rim at the top. Dimensions: 3-3/14” diameter (excluding handle).

12 sterling silver demitasse spoons in Kirk's wonderful "Repousse" pattern. Certainly the most famous of all silver patterns to emerge from Baltimore, "Repousse" they are filled with flowers such as roses, daisies and forget-me-nots. The backs are marked "S. Kirk & Son Sterling." The set of 12 is accompanied with it's original felt protector with 12 individual holders for the spoons.

Origin: Baltimore, MD, circa 1924. Condition: mint, excellent, no monogram and nicely polished. Size: 4-3/8" long. Silver weight: 184 grams.

A terrific first standard (950/1000 pure) silver tastevin by the acclaimed Dijon silversmith Marc Parrod. Though working in the very early 20th century, Parrod was fond of creating tastevins in fantasy styles of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Among his catalog of motifs were sides with repoussé decoration of grape clusters and leaves, bottoms inset with royal coins or medallions, double snake handles representing temptation in the Garden of Eden, and handles with engraved scenes or witty sayings. He must have had some /extra time when he made this tastevin, because it includes all these except the snake handle. In its place is a “tab handle” engraved with a cluster of grapes surrounded by a heart below the saying “A bon vin bonne humeur” (“To good wine and a good mood”). The bottom features a medallion (“jeton”) with the image of Louis XVI surrounded by a legend translated as “the most Christian King Louis XVI 1785”. The reverse of the medallion shows the coat of arms of the Duchy of Burgundy and the inscription “Comitia Burgundiae.” Silver jetons were struck by various civic governments (in this case, the Three Estates of Burgundy) or by the Crown itself to honor important people, significant historic occasions, or personal visits by the King. The rim is engraved with the name of the tastevin’s original owner Paulin from the wine village of Corton. The handle is stamped with Parrod’s mark and first-standard silver marks.

• Origin: Dijon, ca. 1903-1944 (most likely toward the earlier part of this period)
• Condition: excellent, no dings or monograms, sharp detail
• Dimensions: 2-7/8” x 3-13/16”
• Weight: 67.2 grams

A very good set of sterling silver cocktail picks, the tops decorated with colorful enameled roosters. The use of the rooster (“cock”) motif in Art Deco barware was a play on the word “cocktail”. Each of the roosters is enameled in a slightly different colorway. The picks are presented in their original fitted case. Each is marked "Sterling Silver".

Origin: America, ca. 1925. Condition: all original, no enamel damage, box has significant wear. Size: 3” long. Weight: 10.8 grams.

An uncommon boxed set of twelve Art Deco sterling silver cocktail picks with red bakelite finials in the shape of maraschino cherries. The picks are presented in their original velvet and silk-lined fitted box. Each pick is marked “Sterling Silver”. It's quite rare to find a set of a dozen picks rather than the standard six.

• Origin: America, ca. 1920.
• Condition: picks are excellent; box shows expected wear for the age.
• Dimensions: picks, 3” long.
• Weight: 24.8 gr.

A French Art Deco cocktail pick set in the form of a large snail worked in chrome on a mahogany base. The design is by the famed French Art Deco illustrator Benjamin Rabier, who had a side job designing entertaining barware. The twelve picks have red bakelite finials. Cocktail pick holders ("porte-piques") were once a fixture of every French bar and café. Today, they can be use to spear olives of cherries in a cocktail, or to serve small hors d'oeuvres.

• Origin: France, ca. 1930.
• Dimensions: 5 3/8” x 2 7/8” x 4 1/2”.
• Condition: excellent, all original; no chrome loss.

These lovely sterling silver spoons are in a Colonial Revival pattern, simply decorated with a shell at the tip of the handle. The backs are stamped with the high-end retailer's name "Bigelow, Kennard & Co." of Boston, indicating a date before 1922. The backs of the handles also have a monogram "T" in a style that would point to ca. 1890-1900, and the mark 925/1000 which would also support that date range.

Although the maker is unknown, it is very similar to a number of patterns called "Shell" that were made by virtually all the more important silver manufacturers at the time (Gorham in 1890; Reed & Barton in 1900; Towle in 1889; Frank Smith in 1890; Mt. Vernon in 1865; and Lunt in 1888). It appears most similar to Frank Smith's version, but would work nicely with any of these or other Colonial Revival patterns.

Excellent condition. 8.5" long.

A colorful green and white bakelite die holds a set of six chrome and bakelite dice picks in this Art Deco set. The cocktail pick holder (“porte-piques”) was once a fixture of every French bar or café. Today they can be used to spear cocktail olives, cherries or onions, or to serve small hors d’oeuvres.

• Origin: France, ca. 1930
• Condition: very good, the white pick is likely an early replacement
• Dimensions: 1-3/8” x 1-3/8” x 4"

A very nice antique Chinese glass paperweight featuring a lampwork poinsettia. The bright red petals are arranged in a double row around a sulfur yellow millefiori center and are accented with a green stem and a pair of leaves. The Chinese copied this design from New England Glass Company paperweights of the 19th century. The glass in this example is relatively good quality, with only few small bubbles, and is considerably larger than many examples. The base is ground and polished concave.

Origin: China, ca. 1930. Condition: excellent, no chips, cracks or significant surface wear. Size: 3-1/4" diameter.