Two small Gorham scent bottles from around 1900, one in emerald green and one in clear glass. Each has its original ground-glass ball stopper and a sterling silver overlay of foliage winding over the body in loose Art Nouveau lines. Overlay of this kind wasn’t cut from sheet silver and fitted. The design was painted onto the glass and fired, then built up in silver by electroplating and finished by hand, which is why it follows every curve of the bottle so closely.
By then Gorham was one of America’s largest silver firms, and its overlay glass was made for dressing tables where hand-blown glass and real silver were expected. The overlay is stamped D906, most likely a pattern number. The clear bottle still has its silver cartouche, left blank for a monogram that nobody ever added. After more than a century it can still be engraved.
Condition notes
The green bottle is in excellent antique condition and free from damage. The clear bottle has cracks in the glass at the neck, which have been carefully glued and are barely visible beneath the silver overlay. Both original stoppers fit correctly and retain their silver overlay.
