Solid Silver Snuff Opium Box Art Deco Enamel Inlay Austro-Hungary 109g ~ RARE

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Solid Silver Snuff Opium Box Art Deco Enamel Inlay Austro-Hungary 109g ~ RARE:
$298.00

For your consideration, This bestqualitysnuff or opium box, antique by definition--about 100 years old. Although the box appears to be Art Deco in design, which would date it to the late 1920\'s or 1930\'s, its hallmarks tell us that this box was crafted in the Art Nouveau period. By its hallmarks, a whippet\'s head inside a casket shape with anAustria-Hungaryassay city letter after it, in this case \"P\" for Pest (once its own city, later being annexed to create Budapest), was only used to ID small articles of silver between April 1867 and December 1922.The \"3\" before theWhippet\'shead indicates the silver content at .800 silver.

This box is very well constructed out of heavy thick gauge silver and obviously very high-end by it\'s tooling with geometric from ahead of it\'s time. Upon inspection after acquisition, I found one area where there is a small portion of enamel inlay missing upper right corner (see photo), however, this is hardly noticable and I didn\'t see it until putting a jeweler\'s loupe to it. The interior gilt is above average. It has a full piano hinge and closes and opens very nicely. Its apparent that at some point in time prior to our acquisition, someone has scratched a small section of the side to verify its silver content, but this is also something you have to be looking for to notice (see photo).

The silversmith\'smakers markis stamped \"KTA.\"Research indicates believed potential silversmiths of this scarce fine collectable include:

Karl Adler 1853-1912,Karl Adamec 1919 -1922, Karl Allescher 1912-1937, Karl Anderl 1920-1924

Stylistic trends in Vienna took a significantly different direction than elsewhere in Europe during the period of this box\'s production. TheVienna Secession(German:Wiener Secession; also known asthe Union of Austrian Artists, orVereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs) was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the ViennaKünstlerhaus.This movement included painters, sculptors, jewelers, silversmiths and architects.The Vienna Secession was founded on April 3, 1897 byartists who objected to the prevailing conservatism of the Vienna Künstlerhaus with its traditional orientation toward Historicism.The group earned considerable creditfor its exhibition policy, which made the French Impressionistssomewhat familiar to the Viennese public. Unlike other movements, there is not one style that unites the work of all artists who were part of the Vienna Secession. Secession artists were concerned, above all else, with exploring the possibilities of art outside the confines of academic tradition. They hoped to create a new style that owed nothing to historical influence. Along with painters and sculptors, there were several prominent architects who became associated with the Vienna Secession. During this time, theseartisans focused on bringing purer geometric forms into the designs of their buildings and other objects of design, later being known andreferred to as Art Deco as this movement spread to France other parts of Europe and also the United States.The geometric forms in this stunning box are reflective of this time period.

This important piece of fine silvercraftsmanship is a must have for any collector of Nouveau and or Deco objects, snuff or opium box aficionados. Although a bit larger than most this would also make a for a great pill box orsimply adelightful 1stquality antique for that hard toshop for \"certain someone\" who has most everything.

CONDITION:Extremely Fine Condition - no dings and dents etc. Just a very small section ofenamel ismissing top right corner and a small patch on theside where box was file scratched at some point to IDthe box\'s silver content.COMPOSITION: Solid Silver .800 with gold washed interior and blueenamel inlayed borderHALLMARKS: .800 Austrian Silver dogs head (small articles) 448 on both box and lidindicating the order of production sequence (thisassured the maker thecorrect top and bottom werehinged assuring proper fit. This is often seen inbetter crystal often ondecanters also to assure the correct stopper was packaged with itscorresponding vessel, again for proper fit). KTAmaker\'s mark mostlikely of Karl Alleschersilversmith Assay1912-1935 P after dogs head for city of Pest

AGE: 1897-1922WEIGHT: 109 gramsMEASUREMENTS: 76mm x 72mm x 12mm or 3\" x 2.75\" x 1/2\"approximate

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