posted 05-07-2017 12:29 PM            

I am trying to determine if Gustav Manz ever had and applied his own mark?

There is an apparent contemporary "Gustav Manz & Company" recasting and reproducing some of Gustav Manz designs.

I found the following marks, which I am sure the first is from "Gustav Manz & Company", is the second as well?

posted 05-10-2017 03:36 PM            

Her email response:

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Dear Scott Martin,

Your query regarding Gustav Manz's just arrived in my inbox via google-alert. So glad you've become interested in my great-grandfather.

The marks you posted were registered by my sister and me. We are currently producing jewelry inspired by or recast from Manz's designs.

As to Gustav's own output, you are probably aware that he was active in New York from 1892 to about 1944. Though he doesn't seem to have formally registered a jeweler's mark (and was probably constrained from doing so by the clients he cultivated), he did sign at least some of his bronze work as well as his silver designs.

The bronzes we know about bear the mark "G. MANZ" (hand-inscribed in the metal). In some cases he added a copyright mark. For his silver smalls, he sometimes engraved a discreet MANZ on the back or the bottom of the piece.

Other items that have passed down through the family that we know were his are unmarked. We presume that they were early models, samples, or unsold merch he would have marked for his wholesale customers. Shortly before he died in 1946, he sold his business to his longtime chaser, George Hartjen, who kept it going under the Gustav Manz name for a few more years.

Hope this sheds light on the matter. Our research is ongoing, and I'd be glad to answer questions or share information with anyone in your group who has come across a piece of jewelry or metalwork that could be Manz.

All my best,
Laura Mathews
New York City

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