What is an ormolu jewelry casket, and how to tell real gilt bronze from gold-tone metal
An ormolu jewelry casket is a small glass-sided box in gilded metal. Here is what the word means, why these caskets are so sought after, and how we tell a 19th-century French gilt bronze casket from a mid-century gold-plated one.
An ormolu jewelry casket is a small box framed in gilded metal, usually with glass panels in the sides and the lid. Strictly, ormolu means bronze gilded with gold and mercury, but the trade uses the word for gold-colored caskets of several periods, from 19th-century French gilt bronze to the gold-plated filigree caskets of the 1950s.
Both kinds are lovely, and both are sought after. Caskets are one of the things we search for at every estate sale, and a good one never stays on a shelf for long.
What ormolu means
The word comes from the French or moulu, "ground gold." Gilders mixed powdered gold into mercury to make a paste, brushed it onto cast bronze, and heated the piece until the mercury burned off. A thin, hard layer of gold stayed fused to the metal. The French call the result bronze doré. In English it is gilt bronze, or ormolu.
The process poisoned the people who did it, because they breathed the mercury fumes. France passed laws against mercury gilding around 1830, but workshops kept using it until about 1900. Electroplated gold slowly took its place.
By the 1800s, "ormolu" was also a general word for gilt metal. That broader meaning is the one most dealers use today. So when you see "ormolu" in a title, read the rest of the description for the period and the metal, and then look at the piece.
Mid-century American caskets
Many of the caskets you will find are gold-plated filigree boxes made in America from about the 1950s into the 1960s, with beveled glass lids, little scrolled feet and velvet linings. The style is often called Hollywood Regency, and it has come back strongly with the grandmillennial look.
Two makers show up on the bottoms of the ones we find. Stylebuilt Accessories of New York used a red-and-white paper label, and some of its pieces carry a "STYLEBUILT N.Y. ACCESSORIES" stamp. Matson made filigree boxes with beveled lids as well. Many caskets carry no maker's mark at all. Some have only a "24K gold plated" stamp, which describes the plating rather than the maker.
These boxes are pierced metal with a plated finish, and the best of them have crisp filigree, clear beveled glass and their original lining. A large casket, amber glass, or cherub feet makes one especially desirable. They have not been made for decades, and the ones that survive in good condition get harder to find every year.
How antique French caskets are different
French caskets from the second half of the 1800s are a different object. Many are described as Napoleon III, after the emperor who ruled France from 1852 to 1870. Look for these things:
- Thick glass with hand-ground bevels. The bevel is wide, and the panel sits deep in the frame.
- Cast mounts with chased detail. Chasing is hand tooling done after casting. It gives crisp edges you can feel with a fingernail: egg-and-dart borders, beaded bands, rope twist, leaves at the corners.
- Silk linings, often a button-tufted cushion.
- A lock and key on the finest ones.
Our antique French casket with the tufted rose silk cushion has all of the first three: egg-and-dart and beaded banding, repoussé grapevine columns at the corners, and its original silk, softly faded with age.
You will often see the word "style" in a dealer's description: "Napoleon III style" means the piece is made in the manner of that period. A good dealer tells you which is which, and so do we. Our small beveled glass casket in the Napoleon III style, about 4 inches tall, is the perfect size for rings and earrings.
How to tell gilt bronze from gold-tone metal
Caution: do not scratch or file a hidden spot to see the metal underneath. It damages the piece. Look only at places where wear already shows.
- Pick it up. Cast bronze is heavy for its size. A filigree casket of the same size weighs a fraction as much. On a crystal casket most of the weight is the glass, so judge the mounts on their own.
- Look at the high points. Gold wears first on the feet, the handle and the edges of the lid. On gilt bronze the metal that shows there is a warm brown. On plated brass it is a paler yellow. Gray metal under the gold usually means spelter, a zinc alloy that was cast to look like bronze.
- Look at the back of the metal. Cast bronze mounts are thick, with detail on the front and a rougher back. Stamped filigree is thin sheet, and the back of the pattern is a mirror image of the front.
- Try a magnet. Bronze, brass and zinc are not magnetic. If a magnet sticks to a mount, there is iron or steel under the gold, and it is not ormolu in any sense.
- Look at the color last. Mercury gilding has a deep, soft color, a little matte, with brighter spots where it was burnished. Plating is usually brighter and the same everywhere. This is the hardest test to judge by eye, so use it to confirm the others.
What "attributed to Baccarat" means
Cut crystal caskets with gilt bronze mounts are often connected with Baccarat, the French glassworks founded in 1764. According to Baccarat, the company used paper labels from 1860 and did not acid-etch its mark on all of its glassware until 1936. Paper labels are easy to lose, so a 19th-century casket without a mark can be Baccarat even though nobody can prove it from the glass alone.
That is why careful dealers use two phrases. "Attributed to Baccarat" means the cutting, the weight and the mounts match known Baccarat work. "Baccarat-style" means the piece is cut in the same manner. We use both, precisely, so you always know which one you are looking at.
Our cut crystal casket attributed to Baccarat still has its original key and a working lock. The diamond-point cut casket shows what deep hand cutting looks like in the light.
Palais Royal caskets
Palais Royal is the name of the arcades in Paris where shops sold small luxury pieces in the early 1800s: sewing kits, scent caskets, and boxes in mother-of-pearl and opaline glass. Dealers now use the name for that whole family of French vanity pieces. A green opaline globe on a gilt and alabaster base, with four fitted scent bottles inside, is the kind of Palais Royal piece that makes a dressing table.
What makes an ormolu casket valuable
| What to look at | What you hope to see | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Metal | Cast gilt bronze with chased detail | The mark of a 19th-century French workshop |
| Gilding | Original gold, worn only on the high points | Regilding or paint lowers the value |
| Glass | Thick beveled panels, no chips at the hinge, or deep-cut crystal | Glass is the hardest part to replace |
| Lining | Original silk or velvet, even if faded | An original lining helps date the piece |
| Hardware | A working lock and the original key | Keys are lost far more often than caskets |
| Maker or attribution | Baccarat, Stylebuilt, Matson, a period label | A name adds certainty and interest |
Is ormolu valuable?
True 19th-century gilt bronze is, when the casting is good and the gilding is original. The mid-century filigree caskets are collected in their own right, and a fine one in original condition is a joy to own and to use. Either way, a casket is one of those pieces that people keep for the rest of their lives.
Every casket we have in stock is in our jewelry casket collection. If you have one and cannot tell which kind it is, send us a photo of the feet and the underside on Instagram.
