Featured Art nouveau box

I recently got this veneered box with the rather nice pewter plate with jugendstil? poppy seed flowers (?) on top. The plate measures10,5 x 7,5 cm. In the right hand corner there's a name: U. (or K.) Meier? Artist? Not my field and I can't find any information on it. Help!!!!

Additional questions:
- Is there a way to remove the detracting black spots without detracting from the mat finish?
- what type of verneer wood could this be?
- probably cigarette box, right?
- I'm inclined to tear of the pewter plate and throw out the box. Not a good idea?
- Although I like the plate, maybe i should sell it. Any ideas about reasonable price?

 

Lovely box, John. Yes, Jugendstil.
Maybe you could edit the title to say Art Nouveau, most people know the French term better than the German one.

Could we see the inside of the box?
Probably originally for cigarettes, but it is generally referred to as a jewellery or trinket box in this non-smoking age.
The flowers, rose hip? (Rozebottel in Dutch.) Something related to rose hip?
Keep the plaque on the box, please.... Pretty please?

Poppy has a different leaf:


Rose hip:

 

Inside very plain and no veneer.

 

I was pretty sure about poppy actually, they grow in my mothers garden But I did check leaf just now. It's the opium species Papaver somniferum (Dutch: slaapbol, bolpapaver, not klaproos). So defenitely poppy

 

Is it possible that the lettering on the box isn't in the Latin alphabet?
The first letter looks sort of like ц, but I don't think it's in Cyrillic. That last letter is really throwing me off; it seems like such a strange way to write an 'A'.
If it's an opium poppy, is it possible that it's a Middle Eastern alphabet?

 

Yeah, it might be a little barbaric to rip it apart right?

 

Pure vandalism.

 

Mmmm, it's a thought.
I don't think there is another alfabet type in Europe than cyrillic and greek, is there? In greek (and cyrillic?) the mu (greek/cyrillic letter you typed) stands for M, the combination with mu and M for initials is not possible i think.
I see the last letter as a capital R with an overlapping E over the left leg of the R.

 

It is a classic Art Nouveau letter font, you see it a lot in the Netherlands and Central Europe.
I read K. Meier.

Some Art Nouveau fonts:



This one says Jugendstil, the German term for Art Nouveau, after the influential magazine 'die Jugend'.

 

I'm definitely seeing K. Meier in those letters.

I think the black stuff was probably from when the top was painted. It may even have had color on the flowers. At some point it deteriorated so much a previous owner tried to strip it.

 

This has already lost any patina it might have had so see no harm in further stripping and polishing that plate to remove the spots. Really think this has more value as a box than what you might get for the plate alone.

 

I don't think it has ever been painted (nor stripped). It does have a lovely soft patina, and very fine detailing that would probably drown in paint. The black spots also occur on the flat rim, and look more like black on silver, i think.

 

I agree - don't remove the plate from the box. As far as the spots, if you're going to sell it, leave them and let the buyer decide what to do.

 

Same here. K Meier; I'm guessing the box was a local product. If selling it I'd be sure to mention that those are opium poppies; someone might want it for that alone. It would make one heckuva stash box, if one has a stash.

 

stash of what ?

 

Odds and ends, or possibly Mansons' rolling papers...?

 

I bet you thought of the poppies.

 

when I think of the poppies...........

 

Gorgeous table komo, yours?
And the paraphernalia too of course.

 

Wow. I guess the yellow blob is the opium?
Since i just bought an opium pipe like this, and you seem knoledgable on the topic
Maybe you can tell me if there is some part of the pipe hidden by the blob? With my pipe there is only the metal tube upward, but i got the impression somehow that there should be a dish/cuplike part to put the opium om