1904 Evangeline Spoon by Unger Brothers in Sterling Silver

An absolutely stunning, hard to find piece by Unger Brothers. The company was established by five sons from a German immigrant family. The oldest founded a jewelry business between 1870-1872 and began the manufacture of sterling silver items in 1878. Other sons gradually joined the firm, among them a silversmith and an engraver whose brother-in-law became the leading artistic designer. The firm's best years were from 1895 to 1907; by 1901 it had just under 300 employees. The 1903, 1904 and 1906 catalogs show over 150 hatpin designs, more than half Art Nouveau. All told, their 1904 catalog included some 3,200 distinct items; they employed stamping machines to turn out many of their products. While most items were jewelry, the best-selling items were dresser sets. They also produced tableware such as trays and sauceboats. Unger Bros. work is collected in the Brooklyn Museum, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Newark Museum, and RISD Museum. This is preowned. Expect minor songs of use. Silver naturally tarnishes. Item may need to be polished upon receipt. Buyer's Purchase Agreement; I do not take returns. This is a final sale. Due to growing buyer fraud, all items are photographed with date stamps prior to shipping. Buyer agrees these pre-shipping photos will solely be used to settle any dispute about item condition. No returns will be allowed if photos contradict buyers' claim.