GERMANY 1915 Art Nouveau Antique Racehorse Cigar Cutter In Plated Silver

An art deco petrol lighter designed by Naldun. Very beautiful and useful petrol lighter, created in America by the Naldun Company, back in the 1930. It was crafted as a slider piece in the art deco style, with an octagonal shape in solid .925/.999 sterling silver. Embellished on top with an Essex glass piece depicting the intaglio carving of a horse. It is in great shape with minimal trace of wear, with no dings, marks or bumps. The Essex glass piece is in perfect shape with remains of all the vibrant colors. Weight: 16.40 Grams, (10.51 Dwt). Size: Octagonal Small. Measurements: 15 mm by 15 mm by 43 mm (0.59 x 0.59 x 1.70 Inches). Hallmarks: Stamped with the maker's mark, the mark for the assay of the silver and signed, "NALDUN REG. MADE IN U.S.A PAT. PEND. STERLING". Essex Glass Essex crystal pieces are formed from a rock crystal cabochon (polished domes of rock crystal with a flat base), an image or motif is then reverse carved into the flat base, and then painted, to give them impression of a three dimensional object or image encapsulated in the cabochon when viewed from above. Production of a reverse crystal intaglio begins with the mining and cutting of fine rock crystal from Brazil or Madagascar. A well-formed cabochon is the key to a beautifully made reverse intaglio and the tedious process of hand polishing it to perfection had to be completed before the design work could begin. A watercolor rendering of the image was painted on the underside of the cabochon and an oil and diamond dust mixture was used along with up to 250 scribing tools to carve the design into the interior of the crystal “…the deeper the carving the more pronounced trompe l’oeil effect.” Once the carving was established the painting process began with extremely fine brushes and paint working in reverse to create incredibly detailed images. This process of carving into the back of the cabochon is sometimes referred to as reverse intaglio, not be to mistaken with intaglio, which is designed to be viewed from the same side on which it is carved, unlike Essex crystal. Particularly when the image is of something which is itself small in reality, such as an insect, they can be very convincing when created by skilled craftsman. Thomas Cook was believed to be responsible for introducing them to Britain from the continent in the 1860s, and there were initially sold by Hancock’s in London. During the same period the artist William...

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