Flemish Art Company wooden box (late 1800's - early 1900's)

[firehorse]

Hello, I recently purchased an old wooden box made by the Flemish Art Company.  It has a pyrographic design on it and the factory, I have found out from a website on the company, was located in New York City.  I had contacted the lady who runs this website to see if she was able to find out what the mark 'Special G' means on the bottom of the box.  She went through her notes, but was unable to verify what it means.  She did note that a lot of the boxes do not have 'Special G' inscribed in them, but just the usual Flemish Company mark of two bears, so this could make the box distinguished in some way.  She was going to ask another knowledgeable and avid collector of these wooden boxes to see if she knew what it means, but sadly the collector has recently passed away.   

I was wondering if anyone can help with what the mysterious, cryptic 'Special G' means.  There is another inscription on the bottom end of the box which  is very faint, but states:  'From:  Viola Liebeiwititz (?unsure of surname spelling as very faint) Sept. 24 '09' which I assume was placed there after the box left the factory, as the writing is not as skilled as the actual artwork on the box.  I think that maybe someone who purchased the box must have inscribed their name, personalizing it, and given it as a gift to someone all those years ago.  It adds to the history of the box though. 

Any help with this would be gratefully received! 

Thank you!!! 

[mart]

How big is this box !!  Stamp on back would indicate a box for pastels to me !!

[firehorse]

Hi Mart,

Thanks for your reply.  The box is 9 3/4" x 3 3/4 " and 2 1/4" high.  I know that some of the boxes were made to be glove boxes and I suppose the size would be the perfect size to contain gloves.  However, a lot of the boxes similar to this don't have the Special G mark on them and this seems to be the only one that does that I've come across. 

[mart]

I will look a bit more but I looked at their website and it had one classification called Special Pyrographics,,  Could be that they shortened it somewhat as Special G just to indicate the department that produced it as Special Graphics !! I think it said that the artwork from this department was a little outside of the norm and was maybe a bit more involved !!

[firehorse]

Hi Mart,

What you say makes sense.  I've noticed that the artwork varies in expertise/skill/talent from box to box that I've seen.  It would be interesting to find another box with the mark to see if there are any common denominators with them - maybe a specific artist or, like you say, the department. 

Thanks for taking the time to look into it for me.   

Jilly

[frogpatch]

Olivia makes a Cigar called a special G. I do not know if they made them back in the Art Nouveau Era but they are 3 3/4 inches long. Is there a liner in that box of cedar or any special wood?

[mart]

Thats a possible Frogpatch !!  I have been looking and this company produced boxes for many things and there are several marks depending on what the box is for !! I saw on etsy a towel rack by them !! The boxes contained all kinds of art supplies other things as well as kits for hobbyists !!  These kits had the box with the pattern and all woodburning tools for the hobbyist to create the pyrography on it !!  They are usually numbered on back with the pattern number so many of these boxes were not created in the factories of Flemish Art but by the person that purchased it !!  I think after reading more that perhaps Frogpatch is correct or at least something similar !!  The Special G adds no extra value though,, just indicates what was in the box !! They have a value of between $40. and $60. in most all the places I checked !!

[firehorse]

Hi Frogpatch and Mart,

That is interesting that you found out about the Special G cigars.  The Oliva Cigar Company started up in 1886 so it was around in the era in question, but so far I haven't been able to link them to using the Flemish Art Co. boxes.  The wood for this box is very lightweight and soft and from what I have read on the website could possibly be made of basswood perhaps. 

If the boxes came with the pyrography kit supplied inside for hobbyists, it could explain the person who purchased it personalizing it by placing their name and the date on the end of the box.  Interesting!  The name and date on the box compared to the artwork of the Gibson girl, though, seem worlds apart in skill, so I would imagine that one of the factory's artists etched the original design. 

Jilly

[mart]

Actually I think your box was probably done by the company artists !!  If it was one of the kits it would have a pattern number on the back rather than Special G !! The craft type boxes were mostly simple florals !! On the back they had "Flemish Art Quality  No. 668 " Or something similar !!  The number was the pattern for that image !! They also used these boxes for Pen and Ink drawing supplies and other similar things !!  And basswood was their main, if not only wood type !! I have not seen another for the boxes !! The Towel holder was a laminated base with veneer on the top !!

[firehorse]

I think so too, Mart.  I love it and like the fact that it was also personalized too.  Thank you, Mart and Frogpatch for your thoughts and for looking into the mystery of the 'Special G' mark.   

[mart]

Always happy to help !! If possible !! LOL

[Cara Lind II]

I think this would be a great way for kids too! They could make their own boxes out of whatever they want (like cardboard), decorate them with paint or markers, then put them on display at home or school. I personally prefer https://masterbundles.com/templates/presentations/powerpoint/architecture/ source for lovely premium templates. They could also get their parents involved in creating the boxes so they could learn about how artworks while doing something fun at the same time.