Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A set of six silver and enamel Jugendstil buttons, by Heinrich Levinger, the round buttons of stylized Jugendstil design highlighted with green enamel and accented with an oval cabochon chrysoprase stone, each stamped ‘Dépose 900’, and bearing monogram maker’s mark for Heinrich Levinger, cased, button diameter 24mm. £120-150

Heinrich Levinger’s eponymous firm began as a dealer and manufacturer of gold and silver bijouterie wares in Pforzheim, Germany, in the 1880s. The firm closed in 1899 with the death of Heinrich, but was reopened several years later by Emil Levinger (using the same company name), as a producer of modern silver jewellery.
In 1903, jewellery designer Karl Bissinger joined the firm as an artistic partner and the firm’s name was changed to Levinger & Bissinger. They produced jewellery to the designs of Otto Prutscher, as well as Bissinger. By 1909, Bissinger had left the firm and the name had returned to Heinrich Levinger.

The jewellery produced by Heinrich Levinger is in the Jugendstil (German Art Nouveau) style, and is typically of silver with enamel and semi precious gemstone detail. It is similar in design to the work produced by Theodor Fahrner.

For a similar pendant, see: Reeve Nicholls, D, Antique Enamelled Jewellery, Schiffer Publishing, 2006, p100.