Georg Roth & Co., Hanau - Platter - Silver - embossed plate

Rare and highly sought-after period-piece fake in silver - 321 g, 21.8 cm

This splendid antique piece is a circular plate in solid embossed and chased silver, made in the very early years of the twentieth century in a neoclassical and historicist style.
The Front (Anterior Face)
The design of the plate develops from the center toward the edge through three main sections: at the center of the mirror (the flat bottom) is engraved a large and refined monogram of intertwined initials in English cursive style. The letters, rich in flourishes and love knots, represent the initials of the newborn or godchild who received the plate as a baptismal or birthday gift in 1902.
The Decorated Edge (The Wide Rim): This is the most ornate and scenographic part of the plate. It features a symmetric decoration composed of 8 oval cameo medallions, alternating with elegant festoons of leaves and hammered ribbons.
The Portraits in the Medallions: Inside each medallion is depicted the profile (alternating right and left) of historical figures in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century attire and hairstyles. One recognizes curled wigs typical of the era of Louis XIV or Louis XV, which give the plate a noble and evocative air of European classicism.
The Outer Rim: The plate is finished all around its circumference with a corded, interwoven motif (godronatura) that simulates a ribbon wrapped around a staff, a detail typical of high-quality silverware that provides visual stability and elegance to the structure.
The back of the plate, with a smoother, satin finish, contains the authentic historical identity of the object. At the top there is an inscription from the period in a beautiful cursive script, engraved with a gravure, which reads:"From his Godfather / Jonathan Bulkley / Oct. 5, 1902" (Dal suo Padrino, Jonathan Bulkley, 5 Ottobre 1902).
("Jonathan Bulkley" 1902) (1857–1939) was a famous and extremely wealthy magnate of the New York paper industry. He owned a renowned residence on Park Avenue in Manhattan (today the seat of the Swedish Consulate) and a historic estate in Ridgefield. In 1902 Bulkley purchased this plate to gift it to his godchild on the occasion of a baptism or an important anniversary.
The Hallmarks of Manufacture: Just below the center, impressed into the metal, are the four small symbols (the fake hallmarks of the German company Georg Roth & Co. of Hanau, Germany, famous at the end of the nineteenth century precisely for producing high-quality historical replicas in Baroque and Rococo style, legally marked with these 'fake hallmarks' of the era: the crowned letter A, the crowned P, the heraldic lily, and the shield with the company initials. You can notice some very light hand-engraved numeric inscriptions (inventory graffiti or notes by old goldsmiths for weight) and a beautiful natural patina that, if not overly polished, attests to its over 120 years of history.