For sale is this small silver pill box by little known French maker Andre Paul Joseph Zacharezuk.  The box is superb quality repousse design of butterflies (on each corner) and organic foliage and flower design to the sides and lid.  Very Lalique in style the box must date to after 1901 when Zacharezuk registered his P Z mark with a treble clef separating the letters – this mark appears to the base of the box.  The box probably dates to 1901-5 based on its high art nouveau design.  It carries the French silver assay mark for 800 standard. Quite a light gauge.

Zacharezuk, as best I can tell, was an engraver and ran a small business testing cutlery quality.  Quite how and why he turned his hand so successfully to silversmithing is unclear to me.  He did win a bronze medal at the famous Paris 1900 Exposition – but for engraving specimens with steel dies for knife handles.

According to the 1900 Paris exposition (“Rapports du Jury International -1902) , Zacharezuk’s firm appears to have been founded in 1850, with him taking over in  1884.  In 1900 it employed three workers and collaborates in the manufacture of cutlery by testing knife handles and steel punches for handles, ferrules and bowls.

A short biography of Zacharezuk follows:

Born: 9 Feb 1853, Paris, son of Andre Louis Théodore Zacharezuk & Françoise Elisabeth Leclere
Married 1: 19 Sep 1878, Marie Angelique Allely (1851-1895)
Married 2: 11 Jun 1901, Augustine Marie Richard (1901-1955)
Married 3: 25 Mar 1920, Léontine Angélique Legue (1891-1964)
Died: 17 Apr 1930, le Raincy, Seine-Saint-Denis

Price range: £975

Maker: Andre Paul Joseph Zacharezuk

Designer: Andre Paul Joseph Zacharezuk (presumed)

Date: c. 1902

Marks: P&Z, French assay mark

Material: 800 silver

Condition: Excellent, slight deformation to lid/hinge

Size: Diameter 5.5 cm, height 3.0 cm (all max)

Weight: 27 grams, 1.0 oz