Marks Antiques Mayfair, London A GERMAN SILVER MODEL OF A BEAR LUDWIG NERESHEIMER & CO HANAU, CIRCA 1899 IMPORTER'S MARK OF BERTHOLD MULLER, CHESTER, 1899 Finely modelled and finished, depicted prowling on all four, the head detachable Length 21.9 cm, 8 5 / 8 in previous / home

Ludwig Neresheimer & Co Following a visit to Hanau, Germany, in 1903, the London-based jeweller, designer, teacher and journalist W. Augustus Steward wrote: In the silver-goods trade, which is carried on under excellent conditions, the imitation of antiquities plays, and has always played, a large part, especially in the more splendid works of bygone times, and it is in this direction that Messrs. B. Neresheimer and Sohne [sic] are best known, their work being of a very fine nature… [They] took me all over their very fine establishment in which I was able to see the careful and artistic manner in which they produced copies of the Old masters. Nothing was too small or too large, everything being copied with a care and minuteness which were indeed creditable. I saw some time little figures being most carefully reproduced. I also saw a large silver turkey standing about 2½ ft. high, entirely hand-made, the tail being opened and the wings lowered, showing the bird ready to fly. I also noticed a large tray 2½ ft. long, which was being repoussé worked in a very clever manner. Nuremberg work, double lady cups, old goblets, snuff boxes and a hundred and one beautiful little objects which remain to show the beauty of the old German silversmiths' work, were being copied for the wholesale market. This establishment is undoubtedly a most progressive one in the Hanau silver trade. Herr Neresheimer is a clever artist, and a man who thoroughly understands the technique of the silversmith; moreover his workshops have a very fine light, overlook well-wooded gardens, and are thoroughly airy. The London silversmith, with all his pride of tradition, must envy the German who, working in a large airy and well-lit workshop, can look up from his work and see from his [work]shop-window the tall trees, the beautiful garden and the river winding below, close by which Sisters of Mercy from the convent adjoining might be seen washing clothes in the little stream. The workshop in which the chasers were employed is fitted with artistic cupboards wherein the work was stocked, while some quiet but artistic furniture is also arranged to receive their clothing. The men in this establishment, by the way, work about ten hours a day. I went into Herr Neresheimer's private office to have a little chat on things in general, and was astonished to find that it was lighted by a very fine stained glass window, that the furniture was massive and artistic, and that the whole room, like the establishment, breathed the very air of artistic feeling. This establishment, unlike that of Messrs. Steinheuer's, is not an ancient one, for Herr Neresheimer began only ten yeas ago with two workpeople. He was then a student in the Hanau School, and although he is so successful and now employs eighty workpeople, still remains a student in the school. It is men like this who, realising that life is one long school, make the biggest impression upon an artistic industry.' (The Watchmaker, Jeweler, Silversmith & Optician, London, Tuesday, 1 September 1903, pp.1115 and 1117)