Featured Small agate/onyx (?) dish with metal rim set w/ faceted stones

I bought this today because it's pretty and was only $1 (a winning combination in my book) I have no idea if it's an antique Victorian trinket dish or a new soap dish from Home Goods ... I'm hoping you guys can help me out what, and how old, it is.

Looks like it is cut from some sort of agate (although, I suppose it could be glass made to look like agate - no bubbles). Measures about 4½" by 3¼" by 1½" (11.5 cm by 8 cm by 3.2 cm).
View from top with a quarter to gauge size

sides


and bottom (no signs of wear on base - but does have a few scratches inside bowl)


Has a metal rim which is studded with roses. Each rose has a faceted stone (measures much higher than glass on diamond tester) that is held in place by one or more small bits of metal from the rose that are pushed just slightly over the edge of the stone ... the two sprigs of leaves that surround each rose have three 'bead set' marcasites (at least most are set ... a few look to be replacements)


I think this may be what you 'joolies' refer to as 'the greenies' ... but I'm not sure ... seems kind of waxy and I can push it off with my fingernail ... is that how the green stuff on brass can act? I've only encountered a powdery type of green stuff on costume jewelry before.


Any thoughts on what this piece is or does anyone have one in their powder room holding small balls of guest soap?????

Oh ... the stones in the roses glow in UV light. Synthetic rubies maybe?

 

Hi,
I think the green stuff is just left over soap. A cleaning with a soft toothbrush and liquid soap and a really good rinse should do wonders. I have a smaller one with amethysts and tiny amethysts instead of marasites.
greg

 

The agate soap dish (looks like real agate to me) does not look new to me. It's a charming thing. The purple stones look like glass to me, from what I can tell the edges of the facets look dull, on real stones they would be sharp and crisp. the other stones look like marcasites which would lend me to believe the piece has some age. Those are just my observations. I could be totally wrong!

 

The bowl was probably cut in Idar Oberstein Germany or someplace in Italy,the photos of the faceted stones are too blurry to tell anything but color.Dating the items would be hard since both countries have been making them for over a hundred years.

 

The ornamentation looks 1960s.

Debora

 

Haha ... not soap (Shhhh - I tasted it), probably verdigris ... but maybe it had a run-in with a green candle. I was able to rub it off with a tissue. Would love to see your dish! Sounds pretty.

 

Thank you! I think it is too

In person, they do look sharp ... will try to get better photos tomorrow.

 

Thank you for the information, Hollyblue! Yeah, my camera kept focusing on the rose petals and not the faceted stone ... I'll get better photos outside in natural light tomorrow.

 

It's lovely !!!

 

It is a beautiful little dish, probably Art Nouveau. $1, what a find.
With that solid colour of the base, I think it is agate glass, beautifully made. The banding on the rest of the dish follows a certain pattern, which seems to stop when it gets to the rim of the base.
What hardness did your tester show for the stones in the roses?

 

I think that's glass, not agate. I think it started life in Bohemia in the early 20th C, given the nice ormolu rim. Stones might be amethysts.

 

Took some more close up shots of the facets. Also tried to capture how the striations on the sides carry through the base too. Last shot is next to LED UV bulb.

 

I'm not sure how the number of lit LEDs correlates to where on the hardness scale a stone will measure, but this is what I got .... with the meter initially set with 1 LED lit, a rhinestone of the same size as these will light 1 additional LEDs ... these stones in this dish each light 6 or 7 additional LEDs and two of them light up 8 additional LEDs.