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Art Nouveau Boxes

ART NOUVEAU STYLE

In its sinuous lines and flamboyant curves inspired by the natural world, antique Art Nouveau furniture reflects a desire for freedom from the stuffy social and artistic strictures of the Victorian era. The Art Nouveau movement developed in the decorative arts in France and Britain in the early 1880s and quickly became a dominant aesthetic style in Western Europe and the United States.

ORIGINS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN

CHARACTERISTICS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Sinuous, organic and flowing lines
  • Forms that mimic flowers and plant life
  • Decorative inlays and ornate carvings of natural-world motifs such as insects and animals 
  • Use of hardwoods such as oak, mahogany and rosewood

ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

ANTIQUE ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

Art Nouveau — which spanned furniture, architecture, jewelry and graphic design — can be easily identified by its lush, flowing forms suggested by flowers and plants, as well as the lissome tendrils of sea life. Although Art Deco and Art Nouveau were both in the forefront of turn-of-the-20th-century design, they are very different styles — Art Deco is marked by bold, geometric shapes while Art Nouveau incorporates dreamlike, floral motifs. The latter’s signature motif is the "whiplash" curve — a deep, narrow, dynamic parabola that appears as an element in everything from chair arms to cabinetry and mirror frames.

The visual vocabulary of Art Nouveau was particularly influenced by the soft colors and abstract images of nature seen in Japanese art prints, which arrived in large numbers in the West after open trade was forced upon Japan in the 1860s. Impressionist artists were moved by the artistic tradition of Japanese woodblock printmaking, and Japonisme — a term used to describe the appetite for Japanese art and culture in Europe at the time — greatly informed Art Nouveau. 

The Art Nouveau style quickly reached a wide audience in Europe via advertising posters, book covers, illustrations and other work by such artists as Aubrey Beardsley, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha. While all Art Nouveau designs share common formal elements, different countries and regions produced their own variants.

In Scotland, the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh developed a singular, restrained look based on scale rather than ornament; a style best known from his narrow chairs with exceedingly tall backs, designed for Glasgow tea rooms. Meanwhile in France, Hector Guimard — whose iconic 1896 entry arches for the Paris Metro are still in use — and Louis Majorelle produced chairs, desks, bed frames and cabinets with sweeping lines and rich veneers. 

The Art Nouveau movement was known as Jugendstil ("Youth Style") in Germany, and in Austria the designers of the Vienna Secession group — notably Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Joseph Maria Olbrich — produced a relatively austere iteration of the Art Nouveau style, which mixed curving and geometric elements.

Art Nouveau revitalized all of the applied arts. Ceramists such as Ernest Chaplet and Edmond Lachenal created new forms covered in novel and rediscovered glazes that produced thick, foam-like finishes. Bold vases, bowls and lighting designs in acid-etched and marquetry cameo glass by Émile Gallé and the Daum Freres appeared in France, while in New York the glass workshop-cum-laboratory of Louis Comfort Tiffany — the core of what eventually became a multimedia decorative-arts manufactory called Tiffany Studios — brought out buoyant pieces in opalescent favrile glass. 

Jewelry design was revolutionized, as settings, for the first time, were emphasized as much as, or more than, gemstones. A favorite Art Nouveau jewelry motif was insects (think of Tiffany, in his famed Dragonflies glass lampshade).

Like a mayfly, Art Nouveau was short-lived. The sensuous, languorous style fell out of favor early in the 20th century, deemed perhaps too light and insubstantial for European tastes in the aftermath of World War I. But as the designs on 1stDibs demonstrate, Art Nouveau retains its power to fascinate and seduce.

There are ways to tastefully integrate a touch of Art Nouveau into even the most modern interior — browse an extraordinary collection of original antique Art Nouveau furniture on 1stDibs, which includes decorative objects, seating, tables, garden elements and more.

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Style: Art Nouveau
Majolica Tobacco Box Pot Jar by Johann Maresch, Austria, circa 1900
Located in Nuernberg, DE
This offer is for one of our rare Majolica items, an exceptional tobacco box pot or jar out of the sack series by Johann Maresch from the beginning of the 20th century. The beautiful...
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Early 1900s Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Majolica

Gorgeous Munich Child Souvenir Metal Trinket Jewelry Box Antique German 1920s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Beautiful Munich child souvenir trinket box, made of white metal. A beautiful nice addition to your vanity room.
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1920s German Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Metal

Snuffbox with Flowers miniature Art Nouveau style Sterling Silver Salimbeni.
Located in Firenze, FI
Rectangular table snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent enamels fired on guilloche and hand-painted floral miniature; external blue staff. Art Nouveau sty...
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1970s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel

Lovely Hand Carved Wood Jewelry Box w. Stylized Kingfisher Bird Motive
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
This exquisite hand-carved wooden jewelry box features a beautifully stylized depiction of a kingfisher bird. The octagonal box showcases intricate craftsmanship, with the bird motif...
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Early 1900s German Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Wood

Gorgeous Cathedral Cologne Souvenir Trinket Jewelry Box Antique, German, 1950s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Beautiful souvenir trinket box made of metal. A beautiful nice addition to your vanity room or your collection of Grand Tour items.
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1950s German Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Metal

French Art Nouveau Period Sterling Silver Pill Box
Located in New York, NY
A small French sterling silver pill box, Art Nouveau period, decorated with flowers and a gold gilt interior, circa late-19th century, France. Piece ...
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Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver

1901 Germany, Erhard & Söhne, Brass Inlaid Rosewood Twine Caddy with Scissors
Located in Morristown, NJ
Circa 1901, Erhard & Söhne, Germany, a Jugendstil/Art Nouveau brass and rosewood string box, decorated in the round with children playing tug-of-war. The lid is beautifully decorated...
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Early 1900s German Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Metal, Brass

Box with fired enamels and fine horse racing miniature Salimbeni.
Located in Firenze, FI
Large shaped table box in sterling silver 925/1000 gold plated with translucent fired enamels on guilloche and large fire enamelled rectangular miniature hand painted by the painter ...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel

Table Box portrait of Empress Eugenia de Montijo miniature Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
More than a kilo of sterling silver was needed to create this stunning rectangular tabletop box. Worked with the very complicated guilloche technique, it was then enamelled at high heat with translucent enamel to make the superb workmanship shine through. The fine rectangular miniature cm. 7.5 x 10.7 on vegetable ivory. The small masterpiece handmade by the painter Anna Maria Manfriani reproduces the famous portrait of Empress Eugenia de Montijo, by the painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The unenamelled sterling silver parts were then gilded with a 24-carat galvanic bath. In Art Nouveau style, with a “lost” zip, i.e. semi-invisible. Dimensions cm. 15 x 18 x 3.5. Weight gr. 1095. Designed by Giorgio Salimbeni in 1980 and manufactured in Florence at the Salimbeni company headquarters with completely manual execution by artisan artists with a very thick slab and large reinforcements suitable for supporting numerous enamelling firings at around 800° Doña María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick, 19th Countess of Teba, 16th Marquise of Ardales known as Eugénie de Montijo was Empress of the French from her marriage to Napoleon III on 30 January 1853 until the fall of the Emperor on 4 September 1870. From July 28 to September 4...
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1980s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel

1906 Art Nouveau Biscuit Tin by Huntley & Palmers
Located in Chapel Hill, NC
Fame 1906 Art Nouveau waterfall form biscuit tin box by Huntley & Palmers, English. Each side decorated with Greco-Roman figural reserves of "Fame", "Harvest", "Abundance", "Fire", "...
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Early 20th Century English Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Metal

Snuff Box races miniature fire-enameled guilloche and engraved drawing Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Octagonal table snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with black fired enamel inserted in a hand engraved drawing and with fired enamelled miniature, hand painted by the p...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel

French Style Enameled Holly Motif Frosted Iridescent Box, Style of Daum Nancy
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
French Style Enameled Holly Motif Frosted Iridescent Box, Style of Daum Nancy, France, circa early 20th century A stunning French style Enameled Holly Motif Frosted Iridescent Box, ...
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Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Brass

Beautiful Lithographed Candy Cookie Tin Box Advertising Vintage Sweden, 1910s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Large antique Swedish Cookie advertising tin. Beautiful decoration piece, nice addition to your kitchen or just to display in every room. Found at an estate sale in Stockholm, Sweden...
Category

1910s Swedish Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Tin

Salimbeni Table Box Art Nouveau Painting Pre-Raphaelite School Fired Enamel
Located in Firenze, FI
This rectangular table box is a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Crafted from 925/1000 sterling silver and gold-plated, it features a hand-painted fire-enameled miniature by Beatrice Me...
Category

1980s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel

Box with fired enamels painted like lapis lazuli stone and horse racing Salimben
Located in Firenze, FI
Shaped table box in 925/1000 sterling Silver gold plated with fired enamels painted like lapis lazuli stone and with fired enameled oval miniature, hand painted by the painter Renato...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel

Excellent Huge Wooden Box, Casket, circa 1900, Jugendstil, Austria
Located in Wien, AT
Huge wonderfully decorated wooden box, an original of the Jugendstil era, made in Austria. This casket is an impressive example of the craftsmanship of the period around 1900. Only ...
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Early 1900s Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Brass

Snuff Box round in Art Nouveau style Sterling Silver Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Round snuff box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamels on guillochè and hand-painted floral miniature, surrounded by a frame with leaves on a blue bac...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver, Enamel

Table Box portrait of Natalia Nikolaevna Pushkina Lanskaja Salimbeni.
Located in Firenze, FI
Spectacular table box with inward corners in gold-plated 925/1000 sterling silver with translucent enamel fired on guilloche, in Art Nouveau style, and in the center a fine rectangul...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel

Pill Box oval with floral miniature Art Nouveau style Sterling Silver Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Pill Box oval with floral miniature Art Nouveau style Sterling Silver Salimbeni in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with hand-painted fire-enamel...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver, Gold Plate, Enamel

Wonderful German 800 Silver Tea Caddy
Located in Bronx, NY
This vintage late 19th century German tea caddy is designed with a magnificent detailed repousse' floral motif. Multiple flowing vines & leaves & roses overwhelm the footed box. Ami...
Category

Late 19th Century German Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Silver

Peter Keil Travel Suitcase Oil Painting
Located in Bradenton, FL
Peter Keil, Neo-expressionist, original painting on a travel suitcase. Signed and dated 1986 Berlin on bottom. Very good condition with mild storage...
Category

20th Century Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Leather

Snuffbox female face wearing Art Nouveau style clothing Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Rounded rectangular snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with fine hand-painted fire-enamelled miniature depicting a female face wearing Art Nouveau style clothing, hand-...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel

Mid 20th century German art Nevo style polished steel and brass trinket box
Located in Allentown, PA
This is a mid 20th century beautifully handcrafted Art Nouveau polished steel and brass trinket box or lock box. This box has beautifully handcrafted polished steel art...
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1950s German Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Brass

Wedding Favor Box Art Noveau hand painted on lid Sterling Silver Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Round wedding favor with lid in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with fine manual engraving of flower shoots, fire-enamelled with various colours, in early 1900s Art Nouveau styl...
Category

1960s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Crystal, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver

Novelty Great Western Railway Bogie Coal Wagon Humidor
Located in Northampton, GB
Realistically Formed  From our Boxes collection, we are pleased to offer this novelty Great Western Railway Bogie Coal Wagon Humidor. The humidor carved in oak modelled as a novelty...
Category

Early 20th Century British Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Metal

Art Nouveau Walnut Wood Casket
Located in Darmstadt, DE
Beautiful box / casket from the Art Nouveau period, made of walnut veneer on a softwood body. The top edge is trimmed with maple and in the center of the lid is a very beautiful vene...
Category

Late 19th Century German Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Maple, Walnut, Softwood

French Majolica Box with Cyclamens, Circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica box with Cyclamens, Circa 1890.
Category

1890s French Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Ceramic

Pill Box Sterling Silver Hand Painted Miniature Enamel on Guillochè Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Shaped pillbox in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with hand-painted miniature in Louis XVI style, second half of the 19th century, and fine hand engravings. Measure cm. 3,5 x 4,...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver

Art Nouveau Walnut Wood Casket
Located in Darmstadt, DE
Beautiful box / casket from the Art Nouveau period, made of walnut veneer and solid wood. In very good restored condition.
Category

Late 19th Century German Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Walnut

Art Nouveau Jacaranda Wood Casket
Located in Darmstadt, DE
Very beautiful small box from the time of Art Nouveau, made of jacaranda and brass inserts. The box is with interior division. In very good restored condition.
Category

Late 19th Century German Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Jacaranda

Wedding Favor Box fine engraving of flower shoots on lid 925 Silver Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Round wedding favor with lid in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with fine manual engraving of flower shoots, fire-enamelled with various colours, in early 1900s Art Nouveau styl...
Category

1960s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Crystal, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver

Set of Austrian Tobacco Jar and Cigar box
Located in Vienna, AT
A set of beautiful tobacco boxes made in Austria. Made i.n the Art Nouveau/Art Deco period. The measurements are: Depth: 14.5 cm - Width: 21 cm - Height: 6.5 cm Depth: 12.5 cm - ...
Category

20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Stone

Modern Serving Tray Leather Onyx Brass Handmade in Portugal by Lusitanus Home
Located in Lisboa, PT
Murayama Serving Tray, Lusitanus Home Collection, Handcrafted in Portugal - Europe by Lusitanus Home. A sublime serving tray, Murayama was design to uplift layback moments. A servin...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Onyx, Brass

Rare Georg Jensen Sterling Silver Tea Caddy 322
Located in Hellerup, DK
A vintage sterling silver Georg Jensen tea caddy with floral finial, design #322 by Johan Rohde from 1920. Additional information: Material: St...
Category

20th Century Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver

Art Nouveau Cherry Wood Casket
Located in Darmstadt, DE
Beautiful box / casket from the Art Nouveau period, made of cherry veneer on softwood body with brass side handles. In very good restored condition.
Category

Late 19th Century German Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Brass

Art Nouveau Style Sterling Silver and Enamel Box
Located in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne
An exceptional, fine and impressive antique Edwardian English sterling silver and enamel box in the Art Nouveau style; an addition to the ornamental silverware collection. This exceptional antique Edwardian sterling silver box has a plain circular form. The box is fitted with a subtly domed, hallmarked push fit cover, embellished with an exceptional hot enameled panel depicting a female character in the form of a water nymph, gazing through ripples and water lilies, all in the iconic Art Nouveau style; this is a highly desirable and collectable scene. The sides and underside of this Art Nouveau box are plain and unembellished. This impressive box was crafted by the London silversmiths Walter...
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Early 1900s English Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Silver, Sterling Silver, Enamel

Brass jewelry box in style of Dagobert Peche and Wiener Werkstätte
Located in Banská Štiavnica, SK
Brass jewelry box in style of Dagobert Peche and Wiener Werkstätte.
Category

Early 1900s Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Brass

Art Nouveau Carved Wooden Box
Located in Queens, NY
Art Nouveau wood oblong shaped box with etched floral design.  
Category

20th Century Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Wood

WMF Gilt and Painted Glass Covered Box
Located in Norwood, NJ
WMF Art Nouveau Germany painted glass and gilt dresser box, 1900s. An exceptional example of the WMF Art Nouveau workmanship, combining the gilt figural stylized handles, holding an ...
Category

1890s German Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Metal

Art Nouveau Repoussé Copper Box, circa 1900.
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Art Nouveau repoussé copper box, circa 1900. Art Nouveau style box, 1900, embossed copper on a wooden interior, red glass cabochons, with key. D...
Category

20th Century French Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Copper

Antique Art Nouveau Silver & Enameled Oval Box Depicting a Woman Picking Grapes
Located in Hamilton, Ontario
This antique Continental silver and enamel box is hallmarked by an unknown maker, and presumed to have been made in Austria in approximately 1890 in the period Art Nouveau style. The oval shaped box is done in silver with an very well executed vignette of a woman reaching for a bunch of grapes on the vine on the top with presumably the rising morning sun in the background. The sides of the box are done with a deep green enameled banding...
Category

Late 19th Century Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Silver

Exquisite Box in Pate De Verre by G. Argy-Rousseau
Located in Bochum, NRW
Small circular box made of satined Pâte de verre, decorated with bas-relief with a frieze of red roses and a rose on the top, yellow and light green highlights. Signature G. Argy-R...
Category

Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Art Glass

Large Art Nouveau silver jewelry box France 1900-1910
Located in Salzburg, AT
Large Art Nouveau silver jewelry box France 1900-1910 This gem of a jewelry box from France is not only heavy but is also extremely decorative due to its elongated shape. The basic decoration consists of closely placed grooves that recur both front and back, as well as on the side and on the lid. Furthermore, the lid has 2 square fields in which 2 girls' heads are stamped. Both wear a floral hair...
Category

Early 1900s French Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Silver

Art Nouveau Period Silver Jewellery Box made by William Comyns in 1903
Located in London, London
Hallmarked in London in 1903 by William Comyns, this attractive, Edwardian, Antique Sterling Silver Jewellery Box, is oval in shape, and features cast and applied floral detailed fee...
Category

Early 1900s English Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver

Halcyon Days Fine Enamel British Pillbox National History Museum of Los Angeles
Located in San Juan Capistrano, CA
Stunning little porcelain box by Halcyon Days Enamels. The inside lid is inscribed "National History Museum of Los Angeles County 1913-1988." The bottom of the box has the maker's ma...
Category

20th Century English Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Porcelain

Modern Serving Tray Onyx Leather Brass Handmade in Portugal by Lusitanus Home
Located in Lisboa, PT
Serving Tray, Lusitanus Home Collection, Handcrafted in Portugal - Europe by Lusitanus Home. A sublime serving tray, Oshu was design to uplift layback moments. A serving tray upho...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Onyx, Brass

Box Josef Hoffmann Copper Ceramics Figurine Klieber Wiener Werkstaette
Located in Vienna, AT
Finest as well as rare lidded box made during Art Nouveau Period on behalf of Wiener Werkstaette. Related box is signed at reverse side by signet of Josef Hoffmann & by characters '...
Category

1910s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Copper

1902 German Jugendstil Presentation Punch Bowl
Located in Austin, TX
Beautifully decorated Jugendstil Presentation Punch Bowl. The vessel is quite large and has a lovely finial lid and detailed vine handles. The inscription is in German which translat...
Category

Early 1900s German Antique Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Brass, Copper

Plique-À-Jour Enamel And Glass Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
Crafted entirely with an exceptionally detailed enamel technique known as pliqué-à-jour, this French box is a luxurious objet d'art. Exhibiting a subtle translucence like that of sta...
Category

20th Century French Art Nouveau Boxes

Materials

Enamel

Art Nouveau boxes for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Art Nouveau boxes for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage boxes created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include decorative objects, serveware, ceramics, silver and glass, more furniture and collectibles and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with metal, silver and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Art Nouveau boxes made in a specific country, there are Europe, France, and Germany pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original boxes, popular names associated with this style include Alfred Daguet, Franco Salimbeni, WMF Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik, and Giorgio Salimbeni. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for boxes differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $50 and tops out at $150,000 while the average work can sell for $1,115.

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