The founders of this firm were John Hussey & Francis Dawson. Although collectors of vintage powder compacts associate this firm with vanities, they produced a wide variety of products. These included money boxes, dolls house furniture, soothers for babies and toys. Holdfast was the brand name for the children’s play items manufactured by this firm.
The collaboration of Laughton & Sons Ltd. (owners of Stratton compact mirrors & accessories) & Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Ltd. was one that worked so well. Laughton & Sons commissioned Wedgwood to make commemorative plaques to adorn their vanities and also purely decorative mounts.
W B Cartwright were manufacturing chemists based in part of the old Larkfield Mill, which was located at Rawdon near Leeds. Mr J Rennie was one of the directors. He invented the digestion tablets that still bear his name today. This company manufactured and marketed a cosmetic line named De Fleury.
This compact is widely admired as the epitome of Art Nouveau. Made in 1925 the Djer Kiss "Kissing Fairies" powder compact is a silver plated compact duo. This case marked the end of the Rowland-Smith fairy theme vanities. The firm had made the decision to move to the more en vogue Art Deco theme. Almost as soon as this vanity was produced it was considered old fashioned, which is good news for collectors, as it had a relatively short production run. It is a highly collectible antique compact rouge. Superbly well made as you can feel by its weight - an exquisite antique compact! In fact the weight of the case, how much space it took up in the hand & the depth are factors that ensured this was not a popular case at the time, hence a short production run. Sleeker, slim line & light weight cases were the order of the day. The famous sight of the lid hardly needs any introduction - two fairies kissing surrounded by gorgeous Art Nouveau flowers.
Whilst the Art Deco style did not just appear in 1925, this is when one of the most stylish design movements ever began to be celebrated at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratif in Paris, 1925. This exhibition is probably the most famous World’s Fair. It ran from April to October 1925. Inventors, architects, artists, fashion designers & artisans came together to change the way design was perceived.
French medallic artists, certainly those of the nineteenth and early twentieth century were considered to be world class. The French artists made medallic art a genre equal to sculpture and the best work is so fine it is equal to painting. Practice made perfect and artists such as (1788-1856) would make portraits larger than medallions. They were portrait size - around 8” x 10”. The next part of the process was to use pantonic reduction to reduce the size of their sculptures to the size of medallions, thereby the great detail in the principal work was not lost in the reduction.
Victorian jewellery is immensely popular today. The superb craftsmanship, artistry, beauty and charm ensure that this genre is highly collectible. Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901) reigned for sixty four years and during this era fashions of jewellery changed considerably, usually as a response to trends that Queen Victoria started. It is helpful to divide the Victorian era into three parts - Early Victorian or “Romantic”, Middle Victorian or “Grand”, Late Victorian or Aesthetic periods.
