Martin Mayer brooch info if possible please

This brooch is tiny, a little swallow which is marked 935 and has the 6 pointed star and wheel mark of Martin Mayer, Germany but nothing else. I don't know much about this maker and most items I've seen are of a very different style, I'm guessing this would be around 1910s or earlier.

If anyone can point me in the direction of more info about this maker that would help a lot Thank you!

 

Gorgeous little swallow.
935 silver is highly unusual in older German silver, it is usually 800 or 835. Could it be the design number?
Here is what I found on Martin Mayer:
Martin Mayer Gmb H. - Bauhofstr. 2, Mainz

A dependency as wholesaler and suppliers-contact, was in Badgasse 7, Pforzheim.
The firm used the M, "Wheel" ("Mainzer Rad"), above the "Wheel" a 'normally' six pointed "Star", M in a horizontal oval.

Additional information from Adress- und Handbuch für das deutsche Goldschmiedegewerbe, Hrsg.: Redaktion der Deutschen Goldschmiede-Zeitung. Verlag von Wilhelm Diebener, Leipzig 1903:
p. 20 - Bijouterie-Fabrications, numb. 502a; p.47 - Gold- and Silverwares Wholesalers, numb. 1255a.

The numeral "30" in the second mark photo is an "MM" internal indication for their product-supplier.

Martin Mayer GmbH, Mainz used also the mark "Wheel of Maguntia with a star on the right side".

The firm never made Plated products.

http://www.silvercollection.it/germansilverhallmark23.html

 

I also doubt that is a 935 mark for silver because it doesn't have the necessary German silver hallmarks that were mandatory. Before 1886 German silver had to have a city of assay mark plus a loth mark of the silver purity. After 1886 the city mark was replaced by "the national mark (reichsmark) of a crescent moon and a crown mark." As Mayer was founded in 1888 their silver would have the reichsmark (crescent moon and crown).

I can't see the maker's mark in your pic, so not 100% sure it is that of Martin Mayer, but as you say it is of a wheel and star then probably their mark. According to the following site .935 silver purity was used in Germany some. The top of the following linked page tells about the German hallmarks after 1886 and the silver purity used. On down the page are examples of Martin Mayer 800 and 925 silver marks with the crescent and crown.
http://www.925-1000.com/Fgerman_marks_a1884_6.html

--- Susan

 

I may have to eat my words because I just found a Martin Mayer brooch definitely stamped with 935 and his wheel and star marks. Why doesn't it have the German hallmarks? Were these hallmarks not required on small items such as jewelry???

The marks are the 4th thumbnail:
https://www.rubylane.com/item/591985-001842/Art-Nouveau-Jugendstil-935-Silver-Paste

and here are other swallows by him also marked with only 935 and his wheel & star:
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/121667108280

--- Susan

 

I have some pieces of 19th century and early 20th century German jewellery, they are mostly just marked 835 or 800.
I know that small Dutch pieces did not require marks. And of course there were also impatient customers like my mother, who just couldn't wait for her commissioned jewellery to be sent off to the assay office.

 

.935 fineness isn't particularly uncommon in silver jewelry from the Pforzheim manufacturers, nor are missing crescent & crown marks, German items weren't sent to an assay office, the marks were applied by the manufacturers and there was little regulation of the mandated marking requirements. A search for "Jugendstil 935 brooch" will turn up numerous other examples...

~Cheryl

 

Thank you to everyone for your help, some very useful information.

This is the first item I've come across from this maker, it's lovely quality and a really pretty little brooch.

 

The swallow meant return home safely in Victorian jewellery symbolism.

 

Sorry, this is a very late comment to your post. Just discovered this site and stumbled upon your post. A lot of German manufacturers used 900, 935 or 950 silver at this time - especially Meyle & Mayer, Martin Mayer, Theodor Fahrner to name a few. The crown and crescent are not always present - never used by Theodor Fahrner or Meyle Mayer. Martin Mayer has two types of hallmarks the wheel of the city of Mainz with a star is one hallmark, the other is M (for Martin) wheel + star and M (for Mayer) as well as crown and moon. The hallmark certainly appears to be the wheel and star. If you browse the internet or ebay and type in Martin Mayer, Theodor Fahrner or Meyle & Mayer you will find many examples. I live in Germany and own quite a few pieces from all the afore mentioned makers.

 

I was curious as to whether he used one of the hallmarks during a certain period, and the other hallmark in a later period. If so, which is earlier. Also I have what appears to be a Martin Mayer brooch with a synthetic spinel, but the hallmark is .925 with the m wheel + star and M but without a crown or moon.

 

Do you have any examples of Martin Mayer follies? I have a small sitting cat with one paw up with a mouse in a cage sitting on a flat surface. It’s all sterling but the cat’s tail has been torn off and I’m going to get it replaced by my jeweler. I’d love to see what it’s supposed to look like. The marks are all correct for this maker.

 

Martin Meyer also worked for artists of the Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt.

 

Hi peeps,

I have just recently acquired a Martin Meyer brooch with the wheel, star & 935 hallmarks.

This one is a little puzzling, in that it looks like it might have been altered to swivel on an added unmarked solid gold pin.

As you will see from the photos it is of a butterfly, with what I believe to be glass turquoise, glass amethyst and paste stones.
The butterfly swivels beautifully on the pin.

I could be wrong but if you look closely at the photos you will see what looks like filed or sawn marks on both front wings (Back of brooch), this suggests to me that the butterfly was originally fixed to something else at those points (Hope I'm making sense lol)

Anyone have any idea if Martin Meyer made rotating pieces of jewellery, or many butterfly pieces, I did see a butterfly piece but that one was encrusted with precious stones.

Thanks,
Indy

 

Lovely, Indianajonez. Martin Mayer manufactured many different types of jewellery, so a swivel mechanism doesn't surprise me.
The amethyst glass looks like garnet glass, but that could be the photo.
It looks like there is some yellow gilding on the legs and back of the insect. The pin looks more rose or pink gold, so it could be a marriage.

 

Could well be garnet glass, I will have to have a closer look.

If a marriage, what would you believe the butterfly came off originally taking into consideration the two sawn flat parts on the front wings (see photos butterfly4 & 5)

Did Martin Mayer ever make larger items (Not just jewellery) on which a butterfly may have been fixed/soldered?

 

Martin Mayer was my great grandfather. What would you like to know?

 

everything that you know in relation to his career..

 

http://www.jewelry-and-more.de/deutschland/martin-mayer-pforzheim-mainz/

good infos, but in German.

 

danke...