Art Nouveau Lidded Box 2531 In Gold Plated Pewter, Orivit Cologne Et Legras, St. Denis

Orivit AG / Legras & Cie. – Art Nouveau Lidded Box #2531, Gilt Pewter and Enamelled Glass, Cologne / Saint-Denis circa 1904Orivit AG, Cologne-Ehrenfeld · Glass body by Legras & Cie., Saint-Denis · Enamelled Floral Decoration with Gilt

An Art Nouveau lidded box, model #2531, combining a gilt Orivit metal mount by the Orivit AG, Cologne-Ehrenfeld (circa 1904) and an enamelled glass body with gilt floral decoration by the Legras & Cie. manufactory, Saint-Denis, France. Height 7.8 cm · diameter 15 cm. Seller's label from Lille, France. ORIVIT mark on the mount.

The 2531 series belongs to the Faßwaren phase of Orivit's production — the combination of precious metal with glass or ceramic bodies from other manufactories — which represents the artistic and technical apex of the house. The collaboration with Legras & Cie. in Saint-Denis, specialist in French Art Nouveau enamelled glass, produces here a hybrid piece of characteristic Franco-Rhenish elegance, comparable to the Orivit/Val Saint-Lambert and Orivit/Zsolnay combinations.

The Orivit AG — founded in Cologne-Ehrenfeld in 1898 by Ferdinand Hubert Schmitz — received a gold medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900, a distinction at the Düsseldorf Industrial Exhibition of 1902 and a prize at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. It was acquired by WMF in 1905. Orivit pieces are held in the collections of the MAK in Vienna, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Kreismuseum Zons — which holds the world's largest accessible collection of Jugendstil pewter.

A note for collectors and enthusiasts: the Kreismuseum Zons opens on 13 May 2026 the new exhibition „Selten. Silber. Orivit. Rheinische Jugendstilschätze mit internationalem Flair. " — a presentation of rare Orivit silver objects in the Jugendstil style: filigree services, loving cups and champagne coolers, partly gilt or combined with glass, shown in dialogue with the museum's permanent Jugendstil pewter collection. A unique opportunity to discover Orivit in its historical context, just a few kilometres from Düsseldorf.

• Height: 7.8 cm · Diameter: 15 cm
• Metal: gilt Orivit metal · Orivit AG, Cologne-Ehrenfeld, circa 1904
• Glass: enamelled glass, gilt, floral decoration · Legras & Cie., Saint-Denis, France
• Model: #2531
• Provenance: with seller's label from Lille, France
• Literature: Orivit. Zinn des Jugendstils aus Köln, Kreismuseum Zons / Kölnisches Stadtmuseum, 1992 · Blum-Spicker, „… Ein idealer kleiner Juwelierladen", Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, Cologne 2000 · Orivit Métal catalogue, Paris 1900, p. 43
• Condition: good for age

Seen in museums — available to you.

Available for viewing by appointment at our Düsseldorf gallery.

Keywords integrated: Orivit #2531, lidded box gilt pewter enamelled glass, Legras Saint-Denis, Cologne Ehrenfeld 1904, Rhenish Art Nouveau, Kreismuseum Zons, Orivit Silber exhibition 2026, Ferdinand Hubert Schmitz