Mistletoe Art Nouveau 3 – Silverware

A quick review of other mistletoe AN stuff – there’s a lot of silverware out there and these examples have all been taken from recent Ebay auctions.

 

Bote_pyrogne_1900_argent_massif Cigar, cigarette and vesta (match) boxes are a popular mistletoe item – and as with the glassware they’re nearly all French or German.  These examples are both French vesta-boxes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pyrogene_allumettes_argent_massif_decor_ Note the mix of realism and fakery; the leaves are faithfully depicted, complete with insect bites and misshapen edges – but the berries are placed between the leaves, which is never the case in life (the berries form in the branch angle below the leaves, not between the leaves)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dance_ticket_holder This is a Dance ticket holder – quite an unusual little piece and one that includes some oak leaves too – reflecting the old druidic oak/mistletoe association.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rond_de_serviette_en_argent_massif And this napkin ring is unusual too – the depiction is entirely incorrect – with stalked berry clumps that seem to be modelled on American mistletoe, but leaves modelled on European.  It looks rather ‘cheap’ to me! 

(You can see the difference between these species types here)