Antique Guilloche Enamel & Silver Navette Shaped Box by Marius Hammer

Large Antique Guilloche Enamel and Silver Navette Shaped Box with Hinged Lid by Marius Hammer.

The Lid in Mauve Enamel with Gold Scroll Work Design on the Border.

Marius Hammer (1847 – 1927) was a Norwegian silversmith who was professionally active in Bergen.

Hammer was head of one of Norway’s largest silversmithies. He was best known for his plique-a-jour enamelled spoons, popular with tourists and exported in large quantities. He produced the ‘Norwegian brilliant enamel work’ spoons offered in the 1896 and 1898 Christmas catalogues of Liberty, London. From 1905, one of Hammer’s designers of Modern silver was Emil Hoye, a Dane who was an artistic director from 1910—16 and whose work was influenced by Mogens Ballin and later by Georg Jensen. Hoye continued to produce designs for Hammer even after he set up his workshop.

From around 1885, he advertised himself as ‘By Special Appointment to the Prince of Wales’, the listing also ‘the largest collection of Norwegian antiquities in Scandinavia’. He retired in 1915, but the firm remained active until 1930 under his two sons, Torolf and Max. 

Silver Hallmarks and MH Hallmarks

CONDITION: Good, No Chips or Cracks