I absolutely love the art nouveau design of this little antique French silver rattle. Perfectly round ball decorated with mistletoe and a round handle. It would be beautiful as an ornament or could be removed from the handle with the ball worn as a large pendant.
Beautiful raised mistletoe details with some goldwash accents faintly remaining on the top where it connects to the handle, and on the bottom where the seam and two cut outs for sound are. It has two loops, one smaller one and then a larger / thicker one. This is a French piece dating to the turn of the century / Art Nouveau era. It has a three initials monogram on it engraved on the side.The piece measures 3 1/2 inches in height from the bottom of the circle to the top of the loop handle. The handle is about 1 3/4 inches wide and the round silver rattle portion about 1 1/2 inches across. It weighs 28 grams but obviously not silver weight with the white handle. The piece has a punch on the side of the metal attached to the loop indicating French solid silver.
Please note that all my pieces are in estate condition. The handle wiggles slightly where it is attached to the silver like whatever is joining them may be a bit loose, unless it was made that way.
The two sections still seem firmly fastened together but I didn't handle it roughly so handle with care. Some fading gold wash at the opening / bottom seam of the rattle with a small pinhead scrap of silver sticking to it when it was made. It does still rattle well, but it is kind of a tinny rattle sound. Some very shallow impressions but no deep / sharp pin dings or very noticeable dents.Some discoloration and a few nicks / scratches to the white / yellow handle. Not a lot of surface wear or deep scratches on the silverwork so it does not seem it was frequently used. But Please note this piece is not in mint condition. I have many more pieces of sterling listed so please see my other auctions and create a set! I dearly love, collect, use and sell antique American sterling silver flatware and housewares including Tiffany and Co.
Gorham, Durgin, Shiebler and more! I would be delighted if you'd follow me in my new store. Georg Jensen, the father of Scandinavian Silver, on the occasion of his 60th birthday remarked, Silver is the best material we have. The character of silver is satisfactorily obstinate, it has to be conquered and then it has the wonderful moonlight luster. [It] can seem like twilight, or, when it dews over, like ground mist rising.I COULDN'T AGREE MORE. The item "French Sterling Silver ORNAMENT Mistletoe Chatelaine Rattle Pendant Christmas" is in sale since Saturday, March 28, 2020. This item is in the category "Antiques\Silver\Non-U.
The seller is "callmemouse" and is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Antigua and barbuda, Aruba, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Saint kitts and nevis, Saint lucia, Montserrat, Turks and caicos islands, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brunei darussalam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, French guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Cayman islands, Liechtenstein, Sri lanka, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macao, Martinique, Maldives, Nicaragua, Oman, Peru, Pakistan, Paraguay, Reunion, Viet nam, Uruguay, Russian federation.