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      | Pretty places for pretty things.As much fun as what's inside are the Victorian and Art Deco jewelry caskets designed for safekeeping jewelry and trinkets.
Whether you call them by their proper name, jewelry caskets, or simply consider them as jewelry boxes, the most interesting aspect of these treasures is the seemingly endless number of designs that were produced. Additionally, we discovered that different styles were popular in different parts of the country. I am using the various styles and shapes, along with the complexity of the design and the depth of the figural relief to try and date them. Hopefully, you will find them as intriguing as we have.
This is the box that started it all . . . a JB 1520 found in Tennessee. Judging by the style, I'm estimating it to be from perhaps the 1920s. "JB" boxes were made by Jennings Brothers of Bridgeport, CT.
This lovely came from West Monroe, Louisiana. Made by K & Co., by its design it should date from around 1900 or earlier.
The best of both worlds . . . a jewelry box with a clock! This one was found at the antique show at Round Top, Texas. According to the vendor, she had just picked it up at an estate auction somewhere in the Northeast. There is no maker's name on the box or the clock, but the back of the clock has several patent dates, the latest being 1907.
Made by W.B. Mfg. Co., this box #390 with a lock and key has its original interior of draped and padded pale blue silk tussah. Its theme is a floral garland draped shell motif with deeply carved relief. These designs wrap over the edges of the box and are continued along the inside edge of the bottom. This casket should date to between 1900 and 1920.
One of our first "finds" -- a large silver casket, quadruple plate over "special metal" #250B, made by W.B. Mfg. Co. This is one of our largest boxes at 11 inches long. With its intricate, deeply carved sentimental floral design of roses and primroses in large tussie mussies (the "cone" shaped flower holders), this casket may well date it before 1900. The round area in the center is of a different type of silver that could be engraved with the owner's initials. We found this box in Detroit, Michigan in a darkly lit antique shop with questionable clientele. The tray below is a separate piece made by Shuman Mfg. Co. It is also a quadruple plate over special metal, #2693. The flowers on the tray are large ruffled-edge carnations.
This is a very tarnished "silver" casket photographed with a flash to bring out the detail. I call it "silver" because it is neither sterling nor quadruple plate. It is made of some kind of heavy pot metal that has been very thinly plated with silver. These types of boxes tarnish just like good silver but the plate is so thin that many of them have been polished through to the pot metal base over the years.
On the lid is a art nouveau lady with long flowing hair wound up into a topknot shaped like a seashell surrounded by large iris and tiny cherubs. And although the maker didn't sign the casket with his name, he left his calling card in the form of the unusual design molded on the bottom of the box. This casket should date from around 1900 to no later than 1910.
This is a Benedict casket, #454. A much later casket, this box dates from the 1930s to perhaps as late as the 1950s, and is a very good example of an original "gold" plated casket. Again, these boxes are molded from a heavy pot metal. They were then probably dipped to apply the thin gold "plate". This box is in such good original condition that you can see places along the edges of the design where the plate has been burnished to make it shiny, adding to the textural effect. The design relief is good enough that you can readily recognize the raspberries decorating the casket.
This pretty casket, probably from the 1930s, is marked only #122. It has a pretty chrysanthemum motif that is also unusual because the designs have been highlighted with red on the flowers and green on the leaves. This casket came to us as a special gift!
This casket is a good example of a later "reproduction" of an earlier design. Based on the lack of sharpness to the design, it was probably made in the 1920s or 30s but was decorated with a "nostalgic" art nouveau design popular around 1910. This box is a JB #495 made by Jennings Brothers of Bridgeport, CT. The lady in the background was part of a historical fashions series of figurines produced in the 1930s.
A silver plated box by an unknown maker with a definite "casket" looking appearance. The plate is almost gone, as are the lock and key, but the original interior is still in surprisingly good condition. The overall shape and design, including the "frame" inside the lid are strikingly similar to the W.B. Mfg. #390 above. I believe this would have been a less expensive box since the interior is done with flat velvet covered panels rather than having the padded silk.
Another variation -- a casket designed to look like a small curved top chest, including the long legs and the reverse shell motif at the top back and on the center front. Also unusual is the green paint which may be original to the box. I've seen several painted boxes that I first thought had been painted by their owners but later learned that was not always the case. I'm going out on a limb now, but I think the painted boxes will be later boxes that were produced after 1930 when the basic shapes and designs were still popular but the metallic finishes had fallen out of favor.
A smaller casket by an unknown maker -- perhaps the same one who made the large square silver box with the art nouveau lady, cherubs and iris (above). It is quite heavy despite its size (2" square) and it has a wonderful peacock design on the lid, with flowing-haired art nouveau ladies on the sides, dating the box between 1900 and 1910. The next surprise is on the bottom . . .
. . . a "flowing" quarter-moon surrounded by tiny stars!
An unusual example of an unmarked Arts & Crafts, or Mission Style, jewelry box circa 1910. Notice the Celtic-looking details on the lid hinges. It is made just like it's Victorian counterparts in that it is molded from a heavy base metal then given a plated finish. It is quite heavy for a box only 5-1/2" wide across!
A tarnished "silver" box with a sentimental design, circa 1900 or earlier. Made by an unknown maker, the design relief was deeply etched into the mold so that even the very thin stems and ribbon motifs are well defined. The raised dome-shaped areas on each side may have been designed for engraving initials or sentiments.
This is a sample of a box from the 1950s or 60s that was created using an old looking design but which is very poorly made. The casting still has flashing left around the legs and rough seams along the sides of the box. The seams were so wide that a gap is left in the design and the finish is a metallic colored paint.
Another box, marked USA, from as late as the 1950s. It has a fairly nice detail to the design but the surface has been painted in two colors to make the box look like copper.
Examples of two well made, circa 1890 ring boxes which were finished with a copper plating. These are not marked but have a ringed oval detail on the bottom.
A small B & W casket, #111, from about 1920-1930. Adorned with clusters of grapes and foliage, it is large enough to hold a good-sized broach. The unusual feature is the lid. When the box is opened, the lid raises to one side.
Another wonderful casket with an apple blossom motif. "Signed" only by a special molded design that covers the bottom of the box, this casket dates to around 1930. The tiny fairy on a tree swing is a new but it was designed to look like an Art Nouveau piece. While the tree is fairly well done, the fairy, which was very poorly molded, doesn't stand close inspection.
This was an expensive box when it was new but it has now seen better days. Only a part of the padded silk tussah interior remains intact, the plating is peeling and discoloring, and the burnishing of the design is no longer evident.
A smaller casket at 5-1/2" wide -- a quadruple-plate silver box made by W. B. Mfg. Co. circa 1910.
Always different are the jewelry caskets from Benedict. This "bud" shaped, 5" diameter round casket with a lift-off lid features lillies for its design. The deep scratch on the lid reveals a base metal, with a primer, then a copper plate below the final gold finish. This is a Benedict #1190 with a bee inside a clover mark, circa 1900-1910. Inside the lid is a geometric flower design.
A good example of a casket shaped jewel casket. Unmarked, it dates to about 1920. This style box would have been designed to display a necklace. The interior material is not original to the box. It would have had a padded silk or velvet interior, with a silk cord finishing the edges.
This large casket with the beautifully detailed and painted lilly-of-the-valley design was found at the First Monday Flea Market held each month in Canton, Texas. It had been brought in by a vendor from Gladewater, Texas, an old Texas community that was settled in the mid 1800s. It is unmarked as to the maker but should date to no later than 1920. The padded remnant inside the lid is part of the original interior. Note that the bottom continues the lilly-of-the-valley design.
An unmarked "silver" box from around the turn of the century, decorated with a tiny cupid and water lilly design.
A gold over copper plated casket from the early 1900s signed "Coon". We found this box in Texarkana, Texas, in an antique shop that buys most of its merchandise from local estate sales. A few years later, we ran across a pair of my grandmother's reading glasses from the 1920s that had been purchased from A. D. Coon, Jeweler & Optometrist. Many of these boxes were manufactured for retailers such as jewelry stores. I would suspect that during the 1920s, Coon was a chain of jewelers that would have been found in Texas and Oklahoma, and perhaps in neighboring states.
One last example of a tiny ring box from around the 1890s that has become a chair for a tiny china doll from around 1910.
We'll soon be finding more pictures of Jewelry Boxes. Please come again!
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