Price range: £2,950

For sale is this exceptional William Hair Haseler silver and enamel  photo frame dated Birmingham 1904. The frame is designed with gothic style design, with silver “arches” to the top and quatrefoil stylized flowers to the base, all augmented with blue enamel. There are further jewel like highlights of yellow green enamel.

The design of this frame is very similar to a special commission of a bowl that Haseler’s made for John Llewlyn, the Managing Director of Liberty & Co, and initiator of the Cymric range.  This bowl was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s pioneering Liberty centenary exhibition of 1975 and is shown in other images.  The gothic design of the bowl identical to that of this frame, with the same assay date.  On this basis I think it likely this frame is a one off commission by Haseler, probably for someone linked to Liberty and their Cymric venture.  I would say the designer is Bernard Cuzner.

The frame is simply produced using repousse  sheet silver pinned to a wooden back covered in velvet.

Condition is highly original and excellent.  There is one tiny, not noticeable, area of enamel loss to one of the left side upper enamels.

Maker: William Hair Haseler & Co

Designer: Unidentified / Bernard Cuzner attrib.

Date : 1904

Marks: WHH, Birmingham, date letter “e”

Material: Sterling silver

Condition: Excellent, see description

Size: 23 cm tall, 15 cm wide max.  Aperture is 13.5 x 9.0 cm

Weight: nm