Plated Picture Frames

Large octagonal table frame for round photos diameter cm. 7, in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on sunburst guilloche, with Napoleon III French Empire style borders and ornaments. External cm. 17 x 17. Weight gr. 483. Designed by Giorgio Salimbeni in 1978 on the inspiration of previous artefacts from the early 1900s and manufactured in Florence at the headquarters of the Salimbeni company with completely manual execution by artisan artists with a very thick plate and large reinforcements suitable to support numerous high-fire enameling firings at approximately 750 < 800° C. It is a new object that has never been used but is considered vintage because it was built more than 20 years ago. The hallmarks struck to the underside of this fine box include: manufacturer's mark: 391FI metal mark fineness:925 Art Deco was also born in France and is the abbreviation of "Art Decoratif". With more decisive and geometric features than Art Nouveau, therefore more evident and "harder", with always contrasting and strong colours, Art Deco spread throughout the world, from Shanghai's China to the under construction New York and in various parts of Europe. Many artists and designers of the time dedicated themselves to the creation of drawings, paintings, objects for personal use and furniture, interior furnishings, entire buildings and skyscrapers, in this new style. Sandoz in Paris, Lalique with its crystals, Puiforcat with its silverware, Erté with its "ante litteram" fashion designs, Tiffany with its table lamps, Louis Cartier with its objects inspired by the Far East (hence the connection with Shanghai). Salimbeni was able to interpret and propose new objects inspired by Art Deco, in precious metals, semiprecious stones and fired enamels, when, exhibiting at jewelery exhibitions in the United States, and more precisely in New York, he made contact with Cartier buyers first, and also with Tiffany later, and for them he created objects in this style inspired by the original drawings of Louis Cartier, obtained from the buyer of the time, but with absolutely different and original designs and interpretations. Many of the objects produced by Salimbeni for Cartier in the United States had taken inspiration from famous Cartier objects belonging to famous people. An example of all is Mary Pickford's set consisting of a powder compact, cigarette case, pill case and evening handbag. About cooperation Salimbeni and Cartier. Our first meetings with the Cartier USA Company took place through the Giorgini Company, the first "Buying Office" set up in Florence immediately after the Second World War, which had the purpose of bringing together Florentine, and also Italian, producers with American buyers, who especially appreciated the artistic objects still manufactured by artisans who still took inspiration from the Italian Renaissance, using techniques handed down from generation to generation. Mrs. Gina Pestelli, wife of a Florentine retail jeweller, was in charge of contacts with Cartier USA, above all an employee, while her daughter, also for Giorgini, took care of the fashion that in those years was affirmed in Florence with the events of "Pitti ". With their help, we began to supply frames and boxes in sterling silver gold plated with malachite and other semi-precious stones. At the same time, the official buyer of Cartier, Mr. William Smith, began to appreciate and commission the first objects with fired enamels, a process of which we have always been specialists. In 1975 we began exhibiting at the prestigious New York Jewellery Association Show, which we participated in both the February and July editions, for a good 26 years until 2001. In New York in those years the "Art deco style" was still very much appreciated, still mindful of the beautiful early 20th century architecture of the great buildings such as the "Crysler" or the "Empire State". We then began to produce frames, boxes, evening bags, "objets de vertu" and other objects in "art deco style" which were very popular with Mr. Smith who gave us some photocopies of Louis Francois Cartier drawings to reproduce them. Thus, numerous cigarette cases, powder compacts, evening bags, frames and table boxes were created exclusively for Cartier USA which, at the time, had the prestigious "Silver Department" on the first floor of the Cartier store on Fifth Avenue. An evening bag, with matching cigarette case and powder compact, were redone on the design created for a gift given to Mary Pickford at the time. In a 1986 Cartier...

Rectangular table frame for oval photos cm. 3 x 4 in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel, plum purple, on guilloche, with French Empire Louis XVI style...

Rectangular table frame with concave corners for oval photo cm. 5.5 x 8.5 in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamels on guilloche, with French Empire Napo...

Rectangular table photo frame in 925/1000 sterling Silver gold plated with translucent two-tone striped enamels fired on guilloche and hand-engraved ornaments. Late Empire Napoleon ...

This important Picture Frame Green is in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated 24 carats. It is rectangular shaped photo frame. The surface of this Picture Frame Green is fired enamel...

Shaped oval photo frame in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guillochè and Louis XVI French Empire style ornaments. External dimensions cm. 13.5 x...

Rectangular photo frame in gold plated 925/1000 sterling silver with translucent fired enamels on two-tone striped guillochè. In a contemporary style. Ground glass and velvet panel. ...

Gold-plated 925/1000 silver square photo frame with fire-enamelled Empire-style leaves on a rounded edge. External dimensions cm. 9 x 9, internal cm. 7.7 x 7.7. Weight gr. 87. Design...

Rectangular photograph frame in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guillochè and hand-painted miniature of flower garlands in the late 19th century...

Octagonal notched photo frame in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with fine fire-enamelled baroque style engraving. External dimensions cm. 14.2 x 17.8, internal oval cm. 8 x 12....

Square photo frame in 925/1000 sterling silver with fire-enamelled Art Deco-style geometric design. External dimensions cm. 14.5 x 14.5 internal cm. 9 x 9. Weight gr. 260. Designed b...

Shaped oval photo frame in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on sunburst guillochè and Louis XVI French Empire style ornaments. External dimensions c...

Heart-shaped rounded frame with oval photo in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guillochè. With hinged silver-gilt foot engraved in Empire style. ...

Butterfly-shaped photo frame in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent polychrome fired enamels on hand engraving that imitates the veins of the wings. External dimens...

Square table frame for round photos diameter cm. 7, in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent two-tone fired enamels on guillochè, with bord...

Square table frame in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guillochè with edges in French Empire Napoleon III style. External cm. 18 x 18, internal c...

Rectangular photo frame in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guillochè with 2 oval borders internal size cm. 4 x 5.2 and ornaments with festoons a...

Rectangular photo frame in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guillochè and hand-painted miniature of a garland of flowers with oval border interna...

Round photo frame in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guillochè and hand-painted miniature of garlands of flowers in t...

Gucci Horsebit picture frame, nickel, signed. Stirrup form photo frame in polished nickel. The display opening is 5.63 inches in height by 5.75 inches wide. The four circular feet on...

Gucci Horsebit picture frame, brass, nickel, signed. Stirrup form photo frame finished in brass and nickel. The display opening is 5.63 inches in height by 5.75 inches wide. The four...