My art nouveau box with ginkgo leaves – 19th

Delicatelyart nouveau silvered pewter box with ginkgo biloba (maidenhair tree) leaves and nuts, circa 1890.

Other similar boxes

Art nouveau bronze box with blue enamel decorative on top and side. Item was purchased by Mr. Neal A. Prince, architect and interior designer, in ZagrebYugoslavia.

Ginkgo biloba and Art Nouveau inPrague

Ginkgo biloba and Art Nouveau in l’Ecole de Nancy

Ginkgo Biloba in bronze

Art nouveau cast bronze chandelier

Buckle by Paul Emile Brandt

Ginkgo poem by Goethe

This leaf from a tree in the East,
Has been given to my garden.
It reveals a certain secret,
Which pleases me and thoughtful people.

Does it represent One living creature
Which has divided itself?
Or are these Two, which have decided,
That they should be as One?

To reply to such a Question,
I found the right answer:
Do you notice in my songs and verses
That I am One and Two?

Fascinating Facts

• Ginkgo biloba is known as a “living fossil tree”. This tree’s genetic line spans the Mesozoic era back to the Triassic period. Closely related species are thought to have existed for over 200 million years.

• The nut-like gametophytes found inside the seeds are a traditional Chinese food and are believed to have health benefits.

• Several ginkgoes were the only living survivors of an atomic bomb blast dropped on Hiroshima.

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My WMF curling tongs and curling tongs spirit heater, c. 1900s.

Many devices have been used to curl, wave, crimp or straighten the hair.

Some used heat, such as the curling tongs on display which would be placed

over the small spirit burner in order to heat them.

WMF MARKS

WMF – ostrich mark

I/O (Normal thickness of gilding or silver-plating, i.e. one gram of deposited silver spread over an area of one square decimeter)

OX (oxidized)

Did you know…the first real hair-stylists were the ancient Assyrians who

cut, curled and crimped their hair over 3,500 years ago.

Statue of Ashurnasirpal II Neo-Assyrian – 883-859 BC

Did you know…that the saying ‘keep your hair on’ is a reference to the

period when men wore wigs and would remove them to fight.

Charles II – Direct descendant of Louis XIII’s wig.

Did you know…that in the Court of Queen Elizabeth I, red hair became

fashionable and some women tinted their hair with saffron and sulphur

power to make it look red.

The Rainbow Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I by Isaac Oliver.

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My WMF copper inkwell

ART NOUVEAU / JUGENDSTIL

WMF (Württembergische Metallwaren Fabrik)

COPPER INKWELL / INK STAND

GERMANY, ca. 1890 – 1900

MARKED WITH THE EARLY WMF STRAUSS MARK.

The German factory W.M.F. produced some of the most elegant and evocative metalware in the ART NOUVEAU style from the beginning of the 20th century until the start of World War I.

The Wurttemberg Electroplate Company was founded in 1853 by Daniel Staub in Geislingen.

It was renamed the Wurttembergische Metallwaren Fabrik – known as WMF- in 1880 following an amalgamation of several firms.

The company began with only 16 workers, but by 1914 the enterprise had grown to some 6,000 employees, with factories in Germany, Poland, and Austria, and showrooms in London, Paris, Hamburg and Berlin.

The sphinx Sign of wisdom and protection. With a human head, body of a beast, the sphinx had access to all wisdom and strength. Symbolised the riddle of human existence.

Symbol of Ra – The Winged Disc

The Divine Logo combined with wings becomes the Symbol of Ra and is used to represent the creative elements of nature. The Divine Logo represents the mathematics of creation while the wings represent the coming forth out of creation.

The Symbol of Ra is a representation of Creation and Nature. That is what the teachings of the Summum Principles are about, and that is the meaning behind Summum’s use of this symbol. Its also indicates membership in an organization of people dedicated to attaining personal ascension and represents membership in the organization of Summum.

The ancient Egyptians believed that a winged disc or gemstone would protect the wearer from evil. With the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922, this and many other Egyptian-inspired motifs influenced design in the mid 1920s

WMF (Würtemburgische Machin Fabrik), formed in 1850 from Straub & Sohn and A Ritter & Co. and famous for art metalware. A variety of marks have been used during their 150 years of production. The well known ‘ostrich’ mark originates from the German word for ostrich, ‘Der Strauss’ after Daniel Straub, one of the founders. The ‘G’ in the mark stands for the town of Geislingen, near Ulm in Baden-Würtemburg. This beehive mark was introduced in 1909. A version of the beehive with clear top was introduced in 1910 for the French market.

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