Antique Art Nouveau Alpacca / German Silver hand Mirror, Irises, Repurpose or outlet Repair, c. 1900

Divine work in alpacca, nickel silver, or German silver. What is German silver? It is an amalgam of metals that contains no actual silver, but copper and nickel and often a bit of zinc. It has been used for centuries and first invented by the Chinese and then perfected by German silversmiths. Now used as a metal for making jewlery, etc. Originally used as the base for electroplating decorative items. That may have been the case with this mirror. It appears the plating is long gone all over the mirror. The puffy irises are beyond gorgeous and held up in their puffed appearance by, strangely, a black glass weighted interior and glass in the handle. You can hear some of the glass rattling in the outlet handle. Mirror is long gone, but one cannot ignore the magnificent artwork on this vanity treasure.

Measures 10 1/2" at its longest and 5 1/4" at its widest and the profile of the irises sits up almost 1 1/4". I have left it unpolished for you to do with as you please. Really an art nouveau impression at its finest. No maker's mark. Tested by my jeweler. It is not sterling nor is any grade of silver, but when was the last time you found an alpacca hand mirror with irises in full bas relief. Great for repurpose.

Give these flowers a new garden in which to grow!

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