Help with maker of dutch tobacco box

[rat-tail]

Hi please could you help identify the maker of this dutch box, presume either for tobacco or cigars, but too big for snuff and too deep for cigarettes. Presume art deco in design, but could be earlier. - Many thanks frank





makers mark stamped on both lid and box


on the box


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[blakstone]

Hermanus Jacobus van Halteren, working in Schoonhoven, 1832-1867. He was a maker of snuffboxes, vinaigrettes and book mounts: a smallworker, essentially. On his death in 1867, he was succeeded by his widow, Z.K.M. Streef, until 1895 and then by their son, Johannes van Halteren, until 1908.

The mark here, however, was his, not his successors, so this piece should date no later than 1867. Look carefully for a date letter which will tell you precisely when it was made.
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[rat-tail]

Hi Blakstone. Many thanks for your help at identifying the maker. I have looked on the box for a date letter to no avail - unless that very rubbed splodge of a mark pictured is one. There is also nothing that I can detect in Minerva's? head - although that should indicate the town - am I correct here. Would the decoration be contemporary or a later addition. - Thanks Frank
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[blakstone]

Sorry, that never occurred to me: the rubbed mark you show is likely the date letter.

The letter on Minerva's helmet indicates the assay office, which is often (but not necessarily) the city of manufacture. I think I can make out the two top peaks of the letter "M": the letter for the office in Schoonhoven, which opened in August of 1837. This makes sense, as van Halteren was located in Schoonhoven.

As for the decoration, it's hard to say. Geometric designs are rightly associated with the Art Deco era, but they certainly existed in the 19th century. Your best guide here would be the wear on the engraving itself.
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