Box with embossed roses: Martin Mayer, Mainz

[AG2012]

Martin Mayer (born 1835 in Mainz) founded the firm in 1888. The factory was located at Bauhofstraße 2, Mainz (image). The next owner was his son Bernhard Albert Mayer (1866 – 1947). Martin Mayer (Bernhard`s youngest son) was born 15. August 1914. He took over the family business 1. April 1934. During his visit to the Netherlands in 1938 he was informed that the factory was confiscated by Nazi government. Martin Mayer never returned to Germany but proceeded to England. His parents immigrated to Argentina.
In regard of dating the marks (there were several variants): MM initials with Mainz wheel and star was used roughly before 1900 because it cannot be found on Jugendstil jewelry and silverware; ``wheel and star`` mark without MM is seen instead.
Embossed roses (die stamped) are seen both in jewelry and hollowware are often erroneously described as Jugendstil because they lack typical Art Nouveau elements (wavy lines, very stylized floral and geometric elements ).The same goes for e.g. ``Art Nouveau brooch c. 1920`` description.
Regards

[Bahner]

Hello, the other branches of Mayer were robbed, too. The Hamburg shop was taken over by Elisabeth Kulbe, the Pforzheim factoy for jewellery by the Georg Lauer company. Regards, Bahner