Posted 6 years ago
Parrotbeak
(39 items)
Hello to CW from a longtime lurker, first time poster!
I recently purchased these two at one of my local thrift stores; 40 eurocent for the vintage silver ashtray and 70 eurocent for the black bowl.
The ashtray is a typical Dutch design. It seems to have been well-used given how faded out the inner image is in the center going towards the left (not to mention it stank when I bought it). The man with his arm raised is the only one that still has a clear face. There's either six or seven marks at the bottom of the image; I can't tell if the spot right of the 830S mark is a mark or just a spot, even under a magnifying glass or microscope. I didn't notice the marks at first when I picked this little beauty up - I only noticed the ashtray was heavier than I was expecting and that the edge's open design was a notable touch. That corner of the store isn't particularly well-lit, but even so I did eventually make out that the spots at the bottom were much sharper than the rest of the image and therefore likely marks.
As for the black tray or bowl, I have not been able to find anything on what it could be. The edges are a bit rough which makes me think it's handmade. The flowers ared raised and the outer edge is wave-like. I don't know what the metal is (it's not magnetic) or the coating. But regardless what it is, I think it's gorgeous. The flowers remind me of cluster ammonite fossils
The bowl looks like aged pewter to me and pewter isn't magnetic. Just my 2 cents worth.
@fhrjr2: I've never (consciously) seen aged pewter before and I'd been so used to pewter being marked that that option did not occur to me. Using that as a jumping off point, I am now close to certain that the bowl is made from Britannia metal based on color(s) and decoration type. This bowl at the Brooklyn Museum also has a similar pattern in the middle to my bowl:
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/210082 (if the first image is opened in a separate tab, "size2" can be upped to "size4" for better detail)
At the risk of confirmation bias, I did think my bowl was a bit Arts&Crafts-y, so that checks out. I'll be doing more research, but a conclusion like this would be welcome. Thank you so much for the help!