Featured Czechoslovakian Art Nouveau? style hand mirror

This is a piece I purchased back in October 2019 on eBay for under $20.00 just before the world fell apart.



I showed it to a friend who dabbles in jewelry making & attends gem shows a few days later to ask if she thought I could find some replacement stones. She was sure she could find something that would make this wonderful piece shine once more.

So I gave her the mirror and a few months later...........

Of course, things like gem shows were not occurring & even if they were she was hesitant to attend. You see she is a nurse at a local hospital that works in the departments that ended up caring for the majority of the Covid patients.

Fast forward to this past Tuesday.

Continued in the next thread.

 

I received a text from my friend asking if I could meet her so she could finally return my mirror as she had found the last stone at a show the previous weekend.

She also included a photo of the back of the mirror which was just so wonderful.



Needless to say, I am very pleased with my mirror & my friend got a small cut glass vanity with a sterling lid that she collects as a very big thank you.

She tried to argue with me telling me it was too much but the jar had been sitting in one of my cabinets for several years now. It came with a lot of perfume bottles & other vanity items I bought off eBay. I don't really remember what bottles I got out of the deal but I am sure I made out in the end.

Besides you all know how I hate to polish silver so the lid was black as could be but I did manage to get it cleaned up before giving it to her.

 

Very nice.
Czechoslovakia was created in 1918. That's at the end of the art nouveau period, but this could easily have been made around then or a bit later.

 

Thanks for your input @moreotherstuff!!

I did forget to say that this little beauty is only 5 1/2" long & is 1 7/8" across the top portion.

Matching up the one stone on the back to the 3 that were still there proved to be the most elusive. She told me that if she hadn't found it when she did that we were going to have to discuss removing the 3 existing stones & replacing them with 4 others.

 

Fantastic result. And what a cool piece to begin with!!!

 

Over the top but in a lovely way .

 

So lovely to have it restored

 

Lovely Peggy !

Think it would look gorgeous with the metal cleaned up

Don't know how easy that would be though, might be difficult with the felt/cloth ? Backing behind it

 

Actually it's that fiberboard-type stuff so there would be no way to do much more than a dry toothbrush on the top portion. I might try a little bit on the handle but if I knock out a stone I could never tell my friend because she would kill me for sure.

 

It is gorgeous, Peggy, and your friend did a great job. I know it often takes years before you have found all the right replacement bits and bobs.

The Art Nouveau period ended at different dates in different parts of the world.
The generally accepted end date is the start of WWI, 1914.
In Western Europe it had ended years before then. France had already started preparations for the 'Exposition de arts décoratifs etc', which had to be postponed because of WWI. Art Deco is named after the 'Exposition'.
But in Bohemia and other parts of Central and Eastern Europe it lasted much longer, even into the early 20s. Some people call the Bohemian Art Nouveau/Secession style after 1914 'Bohemian Transitional'.

 

It's beautiful, I love it.