November 21st, 2009 | 
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Throughout history, jewelry boxes were constructed and designed by craftsmen, one box at a time. With the Industrial Revolution came the conception of mass production, avidly adopted in the United States for the duration of the late 19th century. For the introductory time, objects like jewelry boxes, could be cast in quantity, less costly to produce. And, there was now a Middle Class in america, capable to buy ornamental items, not just the essentials. American ladies of the early 1900s aspired to the high style of great cities like London and Paris. Mail order catalogs, Sears, Wards, and Marshall Field, enabled the intermediate family to make purchases from their homes, including jewelry boxes. Jewelry stores also displayed in their windows the latest designs purchased from wholesalers. Jewel boxes were available in all sizes, from the smallest ring box to handkerchief and even glove sized boxes. Their bottoms could be a pretty as the tops. Jewel Cases, caskets, and trinket boxes were classified as Art Metal Wares, and were plated in gold, silver, copper or ivory. A frequent misconception is that there was iron in the metal. The most mutual base metals for jewel boxes were in truth spelter or antimonial lead. Almost all alloys employed were of metals with low melting points, explaining the broken hinges oftentimes seen today. Manufacturers experimented with a lot of finishes. Most jewel boxes were firstborn electroplated with copper, then finished with gold or silver. Other refinements were French Bronze, Roman Gold, Pompeian Gold, French Gray, Parisian Silver. Around 1911, ivory finishes were introduced, achieved by painting with white enamel, then applying respective oxides, resulting in Old Ivory, Oriental Ivory, Old antiquate Ivory, and Tinted Ivory. Enamel finished boxes were more lasting than gold or silver boxes. Jewel boxes were lined with fine pale-colored silks from Japan and China, also with faille, satin or sateen, and were many times trimmed with twisted satin cord. Some boxes were lined with velvet in more splendid colors. International trade and travel drew attention to ornamental styles all over the world. For example, the Classical styles, the Victorian Period, Art Nouveau from France, and world discoveries like the Egyptian tombs. And Americans started out to reflect on their own history, with a renewed interest in it is Colonial days. All was reflected in Jewel Boxes. The most prominent ornamental style of jewel box for the duration of the early 1900s was Art Nouveau, a romantic style noted for it is flowing, asymmetrical lines, with motifs relating to nature. Most today associate Art Nouveau with graceful nymph-like young women, but floral motifs held a major place in the American Nouveau jewelry box world. the Language of Flowers was a popular conception for the duration of the Victorian Period. so, floral sentiments were reflected in the Nouveau style on jewelry boxes, the four-leaf-clover for good luck, daisies for innocence, roses for love and beauty, and so on. There were assorted American Art Metal manufacturers that designed and produced jewel boxes. For example, Jennings Brothers, Kronheimer and Oldenbusch, Benedict, NB Rogers, The Art Metal Works, Brainard and Wilson which patented one of the firstborn Nouveau jewel box designs, and Weidlich Brothers which took assorted patents on their Colonial designs. Many of these makers trademarked or signed their jewel boxes. However, Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Ward implied in their early catalogs that they were the manufacturer providing the merchandise. They did not was trademark on a lot of items they sold. So. one may find two identical jewel boxes, one with a signature, another without. Peak production lasted less than 15 years, 1904-1918, but the term Mass Production kept a completely dissimilar meaning then than it does today. Gold and silver finished boxes were the most common. The silver boxes have not fared well, unless genuinely silver-plated, a rare find. Also rare are souvenir jewel boxes with commemorative ceramic or photo discs. The ivory finished boxes, even though more or less later in development, stay elusive. Their finishes were more durable, so they may still be handed down within families. These fantasti antiquate jewel boxes were much valued, and they kept their popularity well until World War I, when the continuity of fashion was broken, re-directing interest from ornamental to the function and power of the machine. Fortunately, we may still discover examples of the almost-100-year old treasures. Further data in regards to ageold American jewelry boxes may be found in THE JEWEL BOX BOOK.
Most helpful customer reviews 74 of 74 people found the following review helpful. Just so you know–it does not whistle (not a problem for me) and may/will “spit” if you let the water get to a “HARD BOIL” and then immediately pour it–but just pay attention and if it is boiling hard, then let it rest a minute or two BEFORE you pour. Be vigilant and only fill to marked place (just below bottom of spout). It holds plenty of water— To sum it up, imho, so far no cons. Sturdy, very pretty, well weighted, large opening so easy to clean, copper bottom heats quickly and evenly without any “ticking” noises on cheaper kettles(have a gas stove). Hope to have this kettle many years! This kettle was kind of expensive–I found it on sale–but after shopping so much, I would choose this one again! 40 of 40 people found the following review helpful. The only thing it’s missing is a whistle. I tend to wander off and do other things rather than sitting and watching the water boil. This means I now have to set a clock timer that beeps once and I better hear it or I’m in trouble! The kettle comes with a warning that due to it’s superior heat retention, you can not overboil it as it may fuse to the top of your glass cooktop (which I have). So, BonJour- how about creating a whistle you can stick into the neck when you use it? Send it to those of us who have already purchased your product as a gift and start putting one inside the boxes of future purchases. That or at least sell one as an accessory for the kettle. And one more thing- packaging. I know it’s cheaper to use cellophane tape to hold the lid onto the kettle for shipping, but it leaves sticky residue on the gorgeous stainless steel. This isn’t a cheap product, and the cellophane tape screams WALMART. Use something with less mess, like s strip of stretch wrap, that looks worthy of being on a pricey teakettle. 43 of 47 people found the following review helpful. Looked nice on the outside. Well, except for a small manufacturing defect where some of the copper plating on the bottom accidentally streaked on the shiny “stainless steel” side of the pot. Oh well, I guess I can live with that… not a huge deal. Then I looked inside the pot. It wasn’t very clean. A fair amount of black stuff on the inside. Again, disappointing, but that can be cleaned out. Another review on Amazon noted this issue too, so I wasn’t surprised. Not a deal breaker yet. And then, I looked inside the spout. There was a strainer fused inside the spout, where the spout meets the body. And there it was… rust around the strainer. It was just a little bit of rust, mind you. But it was rust. Inside the brand new kettle that I just bought. That’s pretty bad isn’t it? I can almost understand if a “stainless steel” kettle starts to rust after a while. That’d be pretty disappointing too, but I could *almost* understand. But I hadn’t even touched this thing yet, and it was starting to rust. I don’t know. Maybe I was just unlucky and received a defective kettle, but I am definitely returning the one I just received. |
Wonderful kettle….a keeper
HORRIBLE! Came rusted on the inside.
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