An exceptional Kate Harris silver and enamel box

Price: Sold

For sale is this exceptional Kate Harris art nouveau small box in sterling silver with green heart shaped enamel   The box is fully assayed for Goldsmiths and Silversmiths who would have retailed this box made by William Hutton & Sons.

The box lid carries classic Harris’ organic flower motifs overlaying a green heart shaped enamel.  The box opens from the middle with two flaps of silver held with prominent arts and crafts style hinges, that form a design to the side of the box also.  The lid “handles” are designed as two (exquisite) raised Kate Harris flowers.  The design broadly mirrors that of a famous folding photo frame by Harris held by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA – see link)

The box and enamel are in excellent original condition and a very heavy gauge of silver.  Overall, I can only think this is a one off commission or exhibition piece.

Kate Harris was employed by the London studio of William Hutton & Sons to produce artistic silver from 1899 to c 1905.  Harris was one of the very few women, or British exhibitors, to win recognition at the 1900 Paris International Exhibition.  At the Paris Exhibtion all her and Hutton’s work was displayed on the stand of the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths company.

For more information on Kate Harris, see Professor Stephen Pudney’s articles on her in the Decorative Arts Society Journal Vol 22 “A marriage of art and commerce: Kate Harris and the arts and crafts silverware of William Hutton & Sons” and Vol 39 “Katie Harris: Mystery Woman of English Art Nouveau”.

Maker:  William Hutton & Sons

Designer:  Kate Harris

Date: 1902

Marks: GS&Co Ltd , London, “g” (fully part marked)

Material: Sterling silver, enamel

Condition: Excellent

Size: 11.0 cm long, 8.75cm wide, 3.5cm high

Weight: 12.5 oz, 353 grams