It is impossible to look at the photograph of Manfred Durst on the identity document provided to him by His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom without feeling sad for all the casualties of WWII. Manfred was one of the children who arrived in Great Britain as part of the Kindertransport humanitarian rescue programme.
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Joseph Ettlinger and his partner Adolphe Aron were located at 60 Aldermanbury London EC from the late 1860s until the beginning of the 1870s. They were the London partners of Triefus & Ettlinger of 103 rue du Temple, Paris. Both gentlemen became particularly well known for their jewellery, cases, elegant fans, leather & ivory goods. The firm also imported French made luxury accessories. Joseph Ettlinger became the Master of the Worshipful Fan Makers Company in 1904.
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There has been a fascination for ancient Egypt for hundreds if not thousands of years. William Shakespeare’s play Antony and Cleopatra was first performed by the King’s Men in London c.1607. The plot is based on Thomas North's 1579 translation from Plutarch's Lives. Plutarch (c. AD 46 – after AD 119) was a Greek historian, philosopher and a priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi.
In recent history this fascination was fuelled by the Napoleonic War in the Middle East.
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Seals have been used since ancient times to seal goods and important communications. Seals were used as early as the seventh millennium B.C. to stamp impressions in clay. In the fourth millennium B.C. carved cylinders that could be rolled over clay were being used in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia included parts of modern day Iran, Syria & Turkey. The cylinder seals were used to create frieze-like designs on clay.
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The firm was founded in 1901 by William Benjamin Broadway. The company is still located in the same area of Birmingham today, which is known as the Jewellery Quarter. In the Edwardian era the Jewellery Quarter was as busy as it is today. The location is noted as a centre for the production of jewellery and many other industries, especially metal working. It is a conservation area with over 200 listed buildings. English Heritage described the quarter as - a unique historic environment in England – a national treasure....a place of unique character with jewellery and metalworking which does not seem to exist anywhere else in the world. The trade of jewellery making in this region dates back to the mediaeval era.
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The owner of Mandalian Mfg. Co. was a Turkish man named Sahatiel Garabad Mandalian. Mandalian was a prolific inventor with many patented designs registered to him. He emigrated from Turkey to the United States of America in 1898. In 1906 Mandalian entered into partnership with Eugene A. Hawkins. At this time the firm was known as Mandalian & Hawkins. On November 7 1912 the partners applied to patent a machine for making coat of mail fabric. The inventor was George Gos.
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The term damascene is said to be English and derived from the view that this sort of decoration resembles damask silk. This technique originated in Syria, Western Asia. Some hold the opinion that the term damascene derives from the name of Syria’s capital city, Damascus. It is believed that the process of creating damascene adornments was first practiced over 1,500 years ago. The people of the Orient regard damascene as a symbol of good fortune.
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The word Japonism (from the French word Japonisme) is the influence of Japanese aesthetics, art, and fashion on Western culture. The term is used particularly to refer to Japanese influence on European art, most notably the Impressionist Movement. In France Japonisme referred to a style of French design found in the fine arts and it was a natural progression that this country's master silversmiths would be inspired by this exotic theme to create the most coveted objet d'art.
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