Rare Bronze Art Nouveau Jewelry Box Hand Painted Portrait Porcelain Plaque LID

  

RARE BRONZE ART NOUVEAU JEWELRY BOX HAND PAINTED PORTRAIT PORCELAIN PLAQUE LID. This is a super piece! It is a very high quality jewelry casket, dresser box or vanity or trinket box made in the Art Nouveau style. I would guess that it originated around the turn of the twentieth century in or around modern day Germany or the area encompassed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time.

It still has the original key and the lock still works as it should. The box is very heavy and appears to me to be made of a bronze alloy metal. There is a decorative cast piece of what appears to me the same metal attached to each of the four corners of the box and the sides of the box are further enhanced with a hand chased design to the metal.

This piece has been part of my personal collection since 1999. The very attractive tufted fabric interior of the box appears to be intact and looks to possibly be pink silk or satin. Mounted in the top of the lid is a well painted portrait porcelain plaque of a beautiful young woman that is artist signed in the lower right Fontana.

I have not taken the box apart to try and determine the maker of the plaque but I would guess it is probably by some maker along the lines of KPM or. I have looked the entire piece over carefully and find no markings of any kind to identify the maker or the country of origin. This is very nice quality and a very attractive and desirable piece! I do my best to describe all items as accurately as possible and to the best of my ability. Some of my photos may be somewhat lighter or darker than actual to better show detail or color.

However, do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments, or with requests for additional pictures. Our store has many unique and interesting items in several different categories from 35 years of our dealing and collecting antiques and collectables.

The box and portrait plaque are all in very good to excellent original condition. Please look closely at the photos as they are an important part of my description of this item. I see no dents, dings or loss to the metal parts.

I see no chips, cracks or obvious scratches to the porcelain plaque. The hinged lid works perfectly as it should and the box locks and opens with the original key as it should. The fabric in the interior of the box shows some minor fraying and has a few minor stains.

At some point in the distant past, someone placed thin strips of masking tape around the metal lip on the bottom of the box (where the lid covers when closed) for some unknown reason. Knowing some collectors prefer patina I made no attempt to clean the box or to try and removed this tape. There is also some tarnish or patina to the metal parts of the box. You would have to look closely to see this but a couple of the metal flourishes on the decorative castings look to have been bent slightly over time. Please keep in mind these photos can be blown up at least 8-10 times normal, so anything you see will look 8-10 times larger in the photos than it really is. Please note: if you see a dark spot in the photos it is from my camera and is not a mark on the piece. It will be either just to the right of center towards the bottom or slightly above center on the right side of the photo. At its largest, the piece is about 9.75 (24.8 cm) long by about 8 (20.3 cm) wide and sits about 3.625 (9.2 cm) off the table.

The visible area of the porcelain plaque is about 5.75 (14.6 cm) by about 3.875 (9.8 cm). About 4 pounds 11.25 ounces (2.136 kilograms). On heavier items I will also offer a less expensive option, if available.

The item "RARE BRONZE ART NOUVEAU JEWELRY BOX HAND PAINTED PORTRAIT PORCELAIN PLAQUE LID" is in sale since Tuesday, August 29, 2017. This item is in the category "Antiques\Decorative Arts\Other Antique Decorative Arts". The seller is "rvhound" and is located in Middletown, Ohio.

This item can be shipped worldwide.