An electroplated Jewellery Box / Casket by the famouse German manufacturers
WMF of classical / Nouveau style - medium size and in good condition
Slight rubbing to high points and the interior appears to have been
replaced for a red satin (probably in the 70's by the material) - very slight mark on right front

Signed: WMF (full mark)
Circa: 1900
Origin: Germany

Provenance: Private Estate / Yorkshire

Condition: Good

Dimensions: 5.5 inches (14cm) max Width x 5.5 inches (14cm)) Height X 4 inches (10cm) Depth approx
Nice collectable Box

WMF - WURTTEMBERGISCHE METALLWARENFABRIK: HISTORY
In 1853, Daniel Straub, a miller from Geislingen, joined forces with the Schweizer
Brothers to form the "Metallwarenfabrik Straub & Schweizer" in Geislingen. This
was the second company to be founded by Straub - previously in 1850, from the
nucleus of a small repair workshop, which he had set up to work on the construction
of Geislingen's famous railway incline, he had founded the Maschinenfabrik
Geislingen. This company was involved mainly in manufacturing mill turbines and
traded throughout Europe.
As early as 1862, the young company distinguished itself by winning a gold medal
at the World Exhibition in London. In 1866, following the departure of the brothers
Louis and Friedrich Schweizer, the company was renamed Straub & Sohn" (Straub
& Son). The company showroom, built in 1868 in Berlin, gradually evolved to
become the company's first retail outlet. Three years later, the company was
already employing 60 workers. By 1880, the number of employees had grown to
approximately 200 and the company was already producing 960 different items.
1880 saw the merger between Straub & Sohn and "Ritter & Co.", Esslingen, to form
a public limited company under the name of Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik.
At the time of the merger, Ritter & Co.'s Esslingen factory was already using the
electroplating method of silver plating and had the more modern production facilities
at its disposal. Straub's company, on the other hand, was the more profitable of the
two.
1892 saw the development of a special technique for silver plating cutlery, whereby
the silver is distributed in a way that, at the points of the cutlery most exposed to
wear and tear, the coating is twice as thick as elsewhere. This process was
patented and is still in use today. Known nowadays as 'Perfect Hard Silver plating'
the technique remains exclusive to WMF.
Under Carl Hugele the company gained international standing. At the turn of the century
the factory in Geislingen employed 3,000 workers. By 1910, this number had already
grown to 4,000, making WMF the largest company in Wurttemberg at this time.
Sales catalogues were printed in twelve languages. Subsidiary companies in London,
Warsaw and Vienna opened up export markets.
Under the direction of Albert Mayer the WMF studio was influenced by the art
nouveau style. The product range was modernized and considerably extended.
In 1905 WMF acquired a majority holding of the Cologne company Orivit AG, which
manufactured products from "Orivit", a tin alloy.

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