Antique Austrian Arts & Crafts Hammered Brass Desktop Stamp Box, Liberty C1905
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:20464303 | Style/ Period: Arts & Crafts |
| Primary Material: Brass | Product: Boxes |
| Product Sub-Type: Stamp Box | Age: 1900-1940 |
| Original/Repro: Original |
This is a really lovely and important brass stamp box.
The box was crafted in Vienna during the Vienna Secession, which was an art movement begun in 1897, when a group of young and radical artists left the Association of Austrian Artists. Their most famous name and leading light was Gustav Klimt.
In 1903 they formed a new company, the Wiener Werkstatter, or Vienna Workshops, which was heavily inspired by the English arts & Crafts Movement. This box was most likely produce...d around that period, so I am dating it to about 1905.
The underside is stamped Ges Gesch, which is an abbreviation of Gesetzlich Gesschutzt which translates: Protected By Law, so is a kind of registration mark protecting the design of the box.
The box might appeal to collectors of Liberty.
The box is crafted from sheet brass, planished to the lid, and inside consists of three compartments for stamps, and a further larger compartment for paper clips, which, interestingly, were patented around this time in 1899.
The box is in excellent antique condition with just the odd minor ding and scratch commensurate with its age. The hinge operates perfectly.
The box weighs 194 g, and it is 83 mm x 64 mm.
All in all, a very beautiful, impressive, and rare piece of Secessionist Metalware.
00055
