Novelty Silver Fire Extinguisher Inkwell Mappin & Webb

Hallmarked Asprey, London The case of flat rectangular form with a splayed lid and base featuring a neat engine turned pattern throughout. The lid with a high quality engraved horse...

The Silver sifter in the form of a Snipe bird with long pointed bill, short wings and short legs. The Snipe cast in solid silver with multiple hallmark located around the collar, rem...

The minaudière of rectangular form with curved corners features a repousse monkey which humorously goes through the case with the front side of the monkey on the cover and the rear side of the monkey on the back. The exterior of the case is gilded Silver with cabochon Sapphires and a top carry loop. To the left of the top a second loop contains the original pencil which pulls out for taking notes upon the ivorine notepad within. The interior of the case features several compartments which open via the Sapphire tabs, the left side contains two smaller compartments while the right side features a bevel edged mirror with an ivorine notepad to the reverse and a spring loaded tab to the compartment. The case is hallmarked in several locations with the London ‘omega’ import mark (1906-1998), the import Silversmiths mark Gresham Barber & Co and is dated 1907. Although the minaudière does not bear the original makers hallmark we firmly attribute the case to Louis Kuppenheim a renowned German Silversmith who made designs matching this minaudière. Louis Kuppenheim (1824-1889)was founded in 1854 together with Heinrich Witzemann they were located in Pforzheim, southwestern Germany and is known as the gateway to the Black Forest. In 1857 Kuppenheim moved forward as a solo business without his partner and moved to Durlacher Straße 1, Old Town street in Pforzheim. Upon the death of Louis Kuppenheim in 1889 3 of his 6 children (Albert, Hugo and Moritz) took over running the company and in 1900 at the Universal Exhibition in Paris the firm won a gold medal for a paper knife. In the same year the company opened the first store in the Rue de Richelieu 67 in Paris. In the 1900s Hans Christiansen designed some silver parts and pieces of jewellery, which were made by the Manufacture Kuppenheim. Christiansen was an important Art Nouveau painter and a member of the Darmstadt artists’ colony. In 1906 Albert, Hugo and Moritz convert the inherited jewellery factory into a modern gold and silverware fabrication and one year later relocated to 69 Durocher Street. Over the next 30 years the company expanded their business with mechanical workshops for gold and silver along with more machinery along with the death of Albert Kuppenheim and Ludwig (another son of Louis) taking over the company. After the war broke out in 1939 the company went into liquidation ending its 82 year history. During the heyday of the company over 200 people were employed by Louis Kuppenheim making it one of the most important employers in the jewellery city of Pforzheim. In the more than eighty years of production some 100,000 pieces left the company. Kuppenheim made many items in small series, for example boxes and minaudières (women’s fashion accessory, generally considered a jewellery piece, intended to substitute for an evening bag. A case with compartments, it allows storage for several items in a small space, such as a makeup compact, lipstick, watch, reading glasses, or keys) and compacts and cigarette cases...

Fine Chinese silver basket (bon-bon dish/bridal basket) circa 1900. The presentation basket of circular form expertly crafted with spigs of blossoming flowers to the outer boarder ho...

Hallmarks Dated 1796 From our Silver collection, we are delighted to offer this original George III Silver Teapot by Peter & Ann Bateman. The...

Fine and very rare erotic silver vinaigrette. The vinaigrette of circular form with removable lid revealing the grill containing the sponge underneath. T...

Hallmarked in Birmingham in 1916 by Mappin & Webb, this handsome, George V, antique sterling silver ink stand, features a cut glass body and ...

Edwardian, sterling silver and guilloche enamel-mounted letter opener, Sheffield, England, year-hallmarked for 1921, Mappin and Webb - makers. The guilloche enamel shimmers with a golden hue in the light. Enamel is on one side of the handle. The all sterling silver blade...

Victorian Period, sterling silver-mounted dark gray agate letter opener/paper knife, Sheffield, England, year-hallmarked for 1900, Mappin and Webb - makers....

Victorian sterling silver letter opener. Made by George Neal & George Neal in London in 1900. In form and with dimensions of a 12-inch ruler. Tapering point for getting underneath th...

This sterling silver inkwell conjures memories of a time when letter writing was an art and people waited for letters from loved ones with anticipation....

Sterling silver-mounted, Pairpoint "controlled bubbles" crystal inkwell, Goodnow & Jenks, Boston, circa 1890s-1900. Monogrammed (script, interlocking HLL?) sterling silver lid has se...