Vintage Wadsworth Art Deco Powder Compact, Amber Chrysanthemum Enamel on Black, Gold Lattice Geometric Design, Original Wadsworth Slip, American, 1940s-1950s

American. Art Deco. The slip still with it.

Wadsworth of Kentucky was one of America's premier compact and watch case manufacturers, supplying major jewellers and department stores from the mid-19th century through the mid-20th. Their compacts are rarer on the UK market than their British counterparts, and this one arrives with its original cream fabric slip intact: the Wadsworth name printed in script on the face, the compact still sitting inside it as it left the counter.

The design is peak American Art Deco. A black enamel ground is divided into a precise geometric grid by double-ruled gold-tone lattice lines, each ruled border traced with a fine zigzag wave line in gold. Into the black panels are set large amber chrysanthemum blooms in translucent honey-gold enamel: twelve radiating petal segments fanning out from a fine starburst centre, each flower sitting on a scalloped circular base, the amber enamel catching light with a depth and warmth that flat colour cannot match. The grid, the waves, the amber blooms against the black ground: this is exactly the geometry and jewel-tone palette that defined American vanity design in the 1940s, and Wadsworth executed it at the quality level of a manufacturer who knew their craft.

The reverse is plain warm gold-tone with the Wadsworth script signature stamped to the lower face, fine script, slightly rubbed with age but fully legible. The multi-barrel hinge runs the full width of the spine, tight and intact. There is fine surface scratching and two small dark spots to the reverse consistent with storage rather than use: the front face and its enamel decoration are in excellent order.

The Particulars:

• Maker: Wadsworth, Dayton, Kentucky, USA; script signature stamped to reverse
• Form: Large rectangular powder compact
• Design: Black enamel ground, double-ruled gold-tone geometric lattice with zigzag wave borders, amber translucent chrysanthemum enamel blooms in black panels
• Reverse: Plain warm gold-tone, Wadsworth script stamp, fine surface scratching and two small dark spots consistent with storage age
• Hinge: Multi-barrel gold-tone, full-width spine, intact
• Included: Original Wadsworth cream fabric slip, Wadsworth script printed to face
• Period: 1940s-1950s
• Condition: Excellent vintage condition to face and enamel. Age wear to reverse as noted. Please review all photos carefully before purchasing.

The geometry is exact. The amber still glows. The slip never left it.

Arrives tucked inside its own treasure coffin and carefully wrapped as a vault relic, ready for gifting or keeping.