En: Art Nouveau

Bronze Art Nouveau Wall Plaque commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Eureka Lodge No. 39

Art Nouveau

Source: Phoenixmasonry

This is a very nice Bronze Art Nouveau Wall Plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary of Eureka Lodge No. 39 F. & A.M. on Jan 16th, 1906. This 100 year old plaque was found in like new condition in its original box. The box was in tatters, but there was enough to protect the plaque. The box was lined with a doily (also in tatters), definitely a touch from another age. The plaque is signed on the reverse by the foundry: AMW NEWARK NJ, and there is a mounting ring on the upper reverse. It measures 144 X 208 mm (5 ¾ X 8 1/8 inches), and weighs 720 grams or (1 pound, 9.4 oz)

The Ronson lighter company started as The Art Metal Works in 1886 by Louis V. Aronson, a gifted man who at 16 years old received a U.S. patent for a commercially valuable metal plating process he developed. "His experiments, which he has been conducting since his early youth, resulted in 1893 in the discovery of a process for electrically producing tinplate. Much money was expended upon improving the process... and has been of great practical value to the whole industry." [Retaining its rights, he sold the patent and used its proceeds to open the Art Metal Works in New York City. The following year he moved his factory to Newwark, New Jersey. Soon the company was producing a variety of high quality lamps, book ends, statues and other decorative items, prized today for their detail in the collector marketplace