Posted 5 years ago
rlwindle
(139 items)
Otto Heintz was born into a family of manufacturing jewelers established in 1875 in Buffalo , NY . By about 1902 he had purchased a small company, renamed it the Art Crafts Shop, and began design and manufacture of copper items with colored enamel decoration. He was granted three patents. By 1906 he changed the name to Heintz Art Metal Shop, and shifted to bronze as the base material and sterling silver as ornamentation. The Art Crafts Shop hammered “look” was replaced by a series of machine-shaped bodies with sophisticated patinas. The definitive patent for applying sterling silver to bronze without solder was granted August 27, 1912 .
Heintz’ line consisted of vases and bowls, candlesticks, smoking accessories, trophies, lamps, desk accessories, picture frames, bookends and jewelry. From a circa 1916 trade catalog: “Heintz wares have won an enviable reputation among buyers of art goods, because of originality and beauty of design, and unusual quality of attractiveness. The articles are of bronze, and are decorated with sterling silver designs, permanently applied by our patented process. Beautiful colored finishes have been produced after much thought and experiment, Heintz passed in 1918 and the company was purchased by Frederick Smith who was Heintz top salesman. With the help of Peter Muller-Munk the company evolved into exclusive designs of desk sets and office accessories and is still in business today in Buffalo NY as Smith – McDonald.
Peter Muller-Munk studied as a silversmith at the University of Berlin and emigrated from Germany to the US in 1926. He began his career working at Tiffany’s in New York as a metalworker from 1926 to 1928, exhibiting his work at the 1928 Macy's exposition. He established his own silver studio in New York in 1929 and exhibited at several Metropolitan Museum shows in 1929 and 1930. His most famous piece was his 1935 Art Deco Normandie pitcher, named after the French ocean liner of the same name that debuted that same year. The pitcher was made by Revere Copper and Brass, Inc, and was produced until 1941. In 1935 he accepted a position at the Carnegie Institute of Technology to replace Donald Dohner as head of the industrial design program and remained there until he left in 1944 to devote full time to the industrial design office in Pittsburgh he had established in 1938. His major clients included Dow Chemical in 1943 to stimulate public interest in post-war plastics, and Waring, for whom he designed their now classic 1937 chrome "waterfall" blender. In 1954, he was president of the Society of Industrial Designers, and in 1957, became the first president of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, through which he became well-known internationally. In 1959 he won one of the first ALCOA industrial design awards, and consulted with US Steel regarding their newly-introduced vinyl-coated steel sheets, with decorative patterns embossed into the vinyl, and which could be formed, drawn or stamped like any sheet steel. In 1964, he consulted with US Steel regarding their Unisphere symbol that dominated the 1964 World’s Fair, and still remains in Flushing Meadows. Peter Muller-Munk Associates (PMMA) continues as an active design firm in Pittsburgh, well-known for way-finding design at major airports and public spaces.
The clock is from Smith Metal Arts "Silver Crest" line it features a Seth Thomas movement, SMA, like Tiffany and other companies never manufactured the movements in their clocks. SMA produced two lines of clocks, "Silver Crest" Clocks are attached to pen trays. "Moon Crest" clocks stand alone. The manufacture date for this clock is April of 1936, the 925 is the line number. Later SMA produced a digital "Silver Crest" clock featuring a Lawson movement and a "Moon Crest" clock also with a Lawson movement.
The clock is brass and measures 18" in length, 5" in depth, and 5.50" in height, it is in perfect running condition.
Seth Thomas released a stand alone version of this clock in their "Baxter" models.
