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Nouveau Men's brush

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Author	Topic: Nouveau Men's brush
outwest Posts: 390 Registered: Nov 2005	posted 01-19-2006 01:44 AM I hope this is the right category for this object. I am getting better at identifying and tried hard to do this one myself. I assume it is American and I thought since the exact patent date was listed I could go on the patent site and hunt for it (what fun!). But, alas, there are only patents listed for actual patent numbers before 1975. How does WEV do it?! I like this piece because it is so large, was obviously made for a man for a change and is an actual scene on the brush. It is very Art Nouveau, which is fun, too. As you can see the makers mark is partially effaced, but I thought if I looked at enough marks I would find it. I can't. IP: Logged
Brent Posts: 1507 Registered: May 99	posted 01-19-2006 10:46 AM Hi, It is one of the marks of Parks Bros. & Rogers, of Providence, RI, makers of silver novelties and articles like your brush. They specialized in cufflinks; you can find this mark in miniature on a lot of old silver and gold cufflinks. They were active from 1892 until around 1930, according to Rainwater. Hope this helps! Brent IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 01-19-2006 11:05 AM Oh, we dredgers of old dust have our secrets. . . As it happens, only one design patent was issued that day and here it is: IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 01-19-2006 11:24 AM Actually, as noted on the patent, the mark (which is upside down in the picture) is the Bristol Manufacturing Company of Attleboro MA. Rainwater states the firm was succeeded by Bristol Silver Co c 1895; it would appear this is an error. [This message has been edited by wev (edited 01-19-2006).] IP: Logged
Brent Posts: 1507 Registered: May 99	posted 01-19-2006 11:40 AM You are right, it is a bee and not a clover inside the horseshoe. First time I've seen this mark on anyhting! Brent IP: Logged
Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 Registered: Apr 2000	posted 01-19-2006 07:05 PM Forgive the digression, but this post may be of interest. The clover mark often associated with Parks Bros. & Rogers actually belonged to the Howard Sterling Co. (aka Howard & Son, etc.) prior to 1892. In 1892, Parks Bros. & Rogers was established when Messrs Parks & Rogers purchased the cufflinks portion of Howard & Co.'s business. Virtually all of the cufflinks (and other jewelry items) that I have seen with the clover mark are without question from ca 1880-1885, and were therefore made by Howard, not PB & R. I'm not sure if both companies continued to use the clover mark after the wheeling and dealing of 1892, or if PB & R obtained exclusive rights to the mark. [This message has been edited by Paul Lemieux (edited 01-19-2006).] IP: Logged
outwest Posts: 390 Registered: Nov 2005	posted 01-20-2006 01:17 AM Facinating stuff! Thanks for the information (Wev..you won't divulge your secret?). The back of the brush is quite detailed. There are swirlies in the sky and faces on the people. If you look closely there is even a third horseman jumping in the background. And all the bristles are still in the brush. I think it was a nicely made novelty item. And now I know who made it! I guess Rainwater is a must. ...off to order mine. IP: Logged
Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 Registered: Apr 2000	posted 01-20-2006 02:05 AM Unger Bros. produced a very similar scene on various items like ashtrays, flasks, etc. Whose is a shameless ripoff of whose? IP: Logged
Brent Posts: 1507 Registered: May 99	posted 01-20-2006 08:04 AM Hi Paul, Here are some 3 tone gold cuff links with an embossed clover-in-horseshoe mark. How would you date these? Also, I assume they are gold filled; do you concur? Brent IP: Logged
outwest Posts: 390 Registered: Nov 2005	posted 01-21-2006 12:21 PM Ah, Ha! I did not realize that the mark was upside down. I rotated it in my first post and now I (and you) can see it is a bee or fly or some bug in a horseshoe (or circle?). Since Wev found that patent doesn't that mean the other company copied it? It is a very English scene anyway. You can't say that Amercans did a lot of fox hunts! So, maybe everyone copied it from an English scene or painting. I see how the cufflink mark is similar to this bee mark. Cufflinks have been something I haven't thought about in years. That, and men's stick pins. I have two men's stick pins in a box. It's such a shame they are not used at all. IP: Logged
Dale Posts: 2132 Registered: Nov 2002	posted 01-21-2006 02:00 PM The hunting scene is something that was taken from 18th century paintings and should be considered generic. Oneida used this motif on their silverchests in the 20's and 30's. I have also seen it on tin candy boxes from that period. I would place it in the design catagory of: ye olde tyme cutsy quaintsy. IP: Logged
Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 Registered: Apr 2000	posted 06-23-2006 11:31 PM Just noticed the follow-ups in this post. Brent, I would date the cufflinks 1900-1920. Not very specific, unfortunately. The striped, multi-colored gold look was popular on a lot of men's items, such as buckles and cigarette cases, around this time. Like these items, the cufflinks are transitional in style, and could conceivably be described as Victorian, Art Deco, or Edwardian, although none of those is completely accurate, since the cufflinks borrow elements from all. I do concur that they are plated with yellow gold, rose gold, and (depending on the time) platinum or white gold. IP: Logged
witzhall Posts: 124 Registered: Mar 2006	posted 06-24-2006 11:18 AM Please forgive this sidetrack, but I think the subject of the scene doesn't necessarily guarantee that the object is English . . . Outwest, you say: quote: You can't say that Americans did a lot of fox hunts! Ah, but you can, as seen in this from the site of the Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America: quote: Foxhunting has existed in North America since Colonial days and was enjoyed extensively by night hunters, farmers and landed gentry. The earliest record of the importation of hounds to this country was on June 30, 1650, when Robert Brooke arrived in Maryland with his family and hounds. By the early 1700's, foxhunting was increasing rapidly in Maryland, Virginia and probably other colonies. The earliest surviving record of American foxhunting in the modern manner, by what is now known as an organized hunt, maintained for the benefit of a group of foxhunters rather than for a single owner, is for the pack instituted by Thomas, Sixth Lord Fairfax in 1747 in northern Virginia. The Blue Ridge Hunt today hunts over much of his former territory. Much of what little is recorded about early hunting comes from letters written by Lord Fairfax and the diaries of George Washington. Washington, the first president of the United States, was an ardent foxhunter who owned his own pack of hounds. Washington's diaries are laced with frequent references to foxhunts near the nations capital. On one occasion while congress was in session, hounds ran near the capital. Many congressmen ran outside to watch hounds and some jumped on their horses and joined the chase. The earliest established foxhound club was the Montreal Hunt in Canada 1826. In the United States, the Piedmont Foxhounds were established in Virginia in 1840. Both packs continue very successfully to this day. . . . The popularity of foxhunting continues to grow. Currently there are 171 organized clubs in North America. [This message has been edited by witzhall (edited 06-24-2006).] IP: Logged
swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 Registered: May 2003	posted 06-24-2006 11:51 AM Fox hunting has a long history in North America, beginning with the earliest English colonists. The first foxhounds were inported into America in 1640 from England. English and American Foxhounds today are recognized as separate breeds. The American breed probably has its origins traceable to George Washington, an avid foxhunter, who imported his English Foxhounds in 1770. He later crossbred his hounds with French hounds sent to him by the Marquis de Lafayette in 1785. In the 1830's Irish hounds were added to the mix and these three breeds became the foundation of the American Foxhound of today. IP: Logged
outwest Posts: 390 Registered: Nov 2005	posted 06-24-2006 12:43 PM English foxhound: So, which is pictured on the brush? [is this so off topic from silver that Big Brother is going to snip it? We shall see.] IP: Logged
witzhall Posts: 124 Registered: Mar 2006	posted 06-24-2006 01:40 PM My intuition says the hound is American . . . IP: Logged

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