Miscellaneous

Photo Credit: jamoni10

Bronze Art Deco Plaque by Pierre Alexandre Morlon

Buy It Now Price: $99 (price as of 2017; item no longer available)

Pros:

-Here is an eye-catching bronze Art Deco plaque created by the very talented French sculptor and medalist Pierre Alexandre Morlon.  Born in 1878, Morlon received classical art training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.  He was best known for his bold and innovative interpretation of Art Deco style.

-This bronze plaque measures 65 mm (2.56 inches) tall by 56 mm (2.20 inches) wide and weighs 144 grams (0.32 pounds).

-This bronze Art Deco plaque depicts a woman in profile holding a sheaf of wheat on the obverse and various farm animals surrounding an inscription on the reverse.

-The French inscription on the back of the medal reads “OFFERT PAR M. DE MONTALEMBERT SENATEUR DE LA SEINE MARITIME” which roughly translates as “offered by Monsieur De Montalembert, senator of the Seine Maritime”

-The Seine Maritime is a bucolic department on the northern coast of France, in the Normandy region.  This department used to be known as the Seine-Inférieure until 1955, when it was renamed.

-Because the Seine Maritime changed its name, we can confidently date the inscription on the medal to sometime after 1955.  However, it is possible the medal was struck years before.

-This Art Deco plaque is stamped with the word “BRONZE” and the cornucopia hallmark, indicating it was produced at the Paris mint.  These hallmarks are completely consistent with an early to mid 20th century French medal.

-As a bonus, this bronze Art Deco plaque also comes with its original red box.  This helps to boost its desirability and value.

-19th and 20th century European art medals are significantly undervalued in today’s market.  They are wonderful objet d’art that will eventually appreciate in value robustly.

-This medal absolutely exudes wonderful Art Deco linearity and simplicity.  It was rendered in a fine style by an accomplished artist, making the asking price of $99 quite reasonable.  If you ever wanted to own an Art Deco bronze, here is your chance.

Cons:

-French Art Deco medals struck in solid silver are readily available in the marketplace for just a little more money.  All else being equal, a medal struck from silver will be more desirable than one struck from bronze.

-The reverse features livestock, which may be a turn-off for some collectors, limiting the medal’s potential audience.

Photo Credit: nyjewel

Vintage 14 Karat Gold Cartier Cigarette Holder

Buy It Now Price: $649.99 (price as of 2016; item no longer available)

Pros:

-This vintage, 14 karat yellow gold Cartier cigarette holder absolutely exudes high class Art Deco style.  It is marked with its fineness, “14KT.”, maker, “Cartier”, and a control number, “1429”.

-Cigarette holders were a smoking accessory that was popular from about 1900 to the 1970s.  They served two main purposes – keeping smoke out of the user’s face and preventing nicotine staining of the fingers.

-The piece weighs 6.1 grams (0.1961 troy ounces) and has a butterscotch colored mouthpiece made from either amber or celluloid.  My guess would be amber, given the Cartier attribution, but this is impossible to determine without personally inspecting the item.

-The seller does not disclose the length of this specimen, but we can guess that it is probably a “dinner length” cigarette holder – about 4 inches (10 cm) long.

-This vintage Cartier cigarette holder was most likely produced by the famous French luxury house in the 1920s, although there is the possibility it is from the 1930s or even 1940s.

-The flared trumpet shape of the cigarette holder, combined with a mouthpiece of a different material, is typical of Cartier construction during this period.

-Tobacciana is largely overlooked in the world of investment grade antiques today.  This is probably because smoking has declined in popularity in the West over the last few decades – especially in the U.S.  However, this just increases the investment potential of these wonderful objets d’art, as few people are currently interested in them.

-Given its high quality construction, famous maker and fabulous zeitgeist, this gold Cartier cigarette holder is fairly valued at $650.

Cons:

-If you don’t smoke, this cigarette holder is purely an objet d’art with no practical application.

-The auction house Christie’s sold a similar example in 2013 for $375. However, this figure was substantially below the pre-sale estimate of $800 to $1,200.

-This Cartier cigarette holder would be more desirable and valuable if it had a more elaborate design or decoration.  The fact that the piece is so simple, while stylistically accurate, does restrain its potential value a bit.

-This piece has a relatively low intrinsic value.  If we assume that gold constitutes about 5 grams of the item’s weight, this cigarette holder has a bullion value of about $191 with spot gold currently trading at $1,190.  That means you are paying a fairly hefty 240% premium over melt value.  However, you don’t buy Cartier antiques based on their melt value, but instead on their value as investment grade art.

Photo Credit: CJ Antiques Ltd

Antique Georgian Period 14K Gold Solid Agate Intaglio Seal Fob ‘Adriana Maria’

Buy It Now Price: $284.75 (price as of 2016; item no longer available)

Pros:

-This is a very early 19th century Georgian era British agate intaglio sealstone mounted in a fine 14 karat gold setting.

-It measures 1.34 inches (34 mm) tall and is 0.71 inches (18 mm) by 0.55 inches (14 mm) at the base.  The piece weighs 7.0 grams.

-The mottled beige to peach colored agate intaglio sealstone is carved in a characteristically neo-classical, flared octagonal shape.  It is engraved on the bottom with a woman’s name “Adriana Maria”, surrounded by stars and grass.

-Sealstones were both fashionable and practical accessories for refined British men and women from the 18th century until the beginning of the 20th century.  Sealstones were expensive luxury items in their day, but no self-respecting British person of means would be found without one.

-Sealstones were used to impress an engraved design, name or coat of arms into the surface of wax seals on letters, thus insuring a message’s integrity.  Any tampering in an attempt to read the letter before it had reached its intended recipient would break the fragile wax seal and be instantly obvious to even a casual observer.

-The Georgian Period, which extended from 1714 to 1830, was a golden age for the British aristocracy.  Increasing land values and land rents meant that the upper classes became as rich and powerful as they had ever been in British society.  For the wealthy, it was a time of palatial Georgian estates, Grand Tours of Continental Europe and ever expanding empire (with the sole exception of the break-away American colony).

-The solid gold mounting of this sealstone is rendered in a particularly fine, late neo-classical style.  The elegant scrollwork and delicate bright-cut engraving is typical of goldwork of this period.  Given the item’s superb style and solid gold setting, I think the $284.75 asking price is a bargain.

-The seller dates the piece to around 1820 or “maybe a little older”.  I tend to think this example is slightly older, perhaps from the first decade of the 19th century.

Cons:

-While the gold setting is in a good state of preservation overall, the bail at the top of the piece is showing some wear.  This is to be expected on a piece of jewelry that is two hundred years old and isn’t a major issue.

-This specimen is fairly light weight at 7.0 grams, but that is typical of the period in which it was produced.  Later settings for sealstones from the very late Georgian Period into the Victorian Age are often much heavier and more massive.

-According to the seller, the sealstone setting is marked “585” – the European notation for 14 karat gold.  But this is obviously a later addition to the piece, possibly indicating a repair or alteration.  Sealstone settings were rarely hallmarked before the 1860s.  While the situation is curious, I believe the piece is inexpensive enough that any monetary risk is strictly limited.