Alvin c.1900 Art Nouveau Glass Bowl Silver Overlay Black Starr Frost

A miniature antique bowl. The overlay features a blank cartouche with no monogram, beautiful intricate design of scrolled branches and flowers, hand-engraved for details in 999 fine silver. Impressed with “Black Star & Frost” and the “A” hallmark of Alvin Manufacturing. The glass is cracked in multiple places, all held together by the silver encasement. I filled it halfway with water and the glass seems to be watertight to that point, there was no leaking. Silver also stamped 170, “292” etched to the underside of the glass.

In 1886, Alvin patented a process for depositing pure silver on glass surfaces. In this process the article was first coated with silver and afterwards a part of the coating was cut away, thus exposing the base, as in pierced work.