Mystery Jewelry Maker ‘Lookalike’ Bows by Guyot Brothers: An Important Clue??

Although I’ve discovered only two brooch versions of my 1930s Mystery Jewelry Maker’s bows (the Large Bow and the Nouveau Small Bow), I did notice several other bow brooches with two alternate stampings from the same ‘blank.’

Many thanks to Lauren Campbell-Reichert of Lucy Isaacs Jewelry who tipped me off that the Guyot Brothers findings company catalog currently contains two entirely different stampings of the the Mystery Jewelry Marker’s small bow shape! Guyot was founded in Attleboro, Massachusetts in 1904; could they possibly have been the source for my MJM’s bows during the 1930s?

 

The small bows used by my Mystery Jewelry Maker are these which I have named the Nouveau, Tailored, Nubbly, and Ribbon stampings. The two Guyot findings are not the same stampings but there is also another important difference: the construction.

 

The MJM’s small bows were all constructed in one of these three ways, with the casting’s side pieces/wings wrapping around to the back.

However, the Guyot findings are “flat”, i.e., they do not have wraparound side pieces.

Let’s take a look at how the Guyot findings designs were used. Some examples date from the same decade as my Mystery Jewelry Maker’s output.

Update, 9/18/2017: Thanks to additional information provided by Andrea and Stephen at Guyot Brothers, the original manufacturers of several of the items shown below have now been identified.

 

 

The Guyot 8600 stamping has an allover design of flowers and swirls; many were produced as locket brooches like the ones below.

 

This stamping was originally made by Guyot for S. Rapaport & Company, who were located in the same Attleboro building as Guyot during the 1930s. According to Guyot’s records, “Rapaport did a lot of manufacturing for Trifari, but they also made their own line.” Because the pieces shown below don’t bear a maker’s signature/mark, it is likely that they were part of Rapaport’s in-house line of jewelry.

 

Almost all of these examples were found in both brass and silvertone versions. Coro made something similar to the round locket during the 1940s but theirs had a “pocket-watch type” latch at the top and was a different stamping; those, of course, were all signed.

This particular locket finding was supplied by Angelo DiMaria & Co; unfortunately they went out of business at least two decades ago.  (Although the names are somewhat similar, this was not the same company as the Robert DeMario designer company that operated from the 1940s until the 1960s.) Thanks again to Guyot for this information as well!

Here is the 8600 bow produced by Rapaport as a non-locket brooch and with a glass-stone mounting added in the center.

 

 

The Guyot 5916 stamping retained just the “edge trim” design from the 8600 version and left the rest of the bow plain except for the center.

The woman’s hairstyle and small-collared dress are styles that do date from the 1930s.

 

 

Obviously at least one Guyot customer wanted a “topless” version of the 5916 bow finding!  I have only found this bow used in a locket brooch. Although the second example looks like plain brass, the seller’s description noted that “top is rose colored enamel or paint, most of which has flaked off.”

 

Mercedes Benz logo knockoff brooch??

 

This brooch most likely dates from the 1960s; it’s the Guyot 5916 bow but with the addition of overlays and drops.

 

My best dating guess for this one is late 1950s into the 1960s.

 

It appears that Guyot also made this bow finding in a smaller size suitable for earrings. The bow portion is just about 1″ wide and ½” high. I think that these too probably are circa 1960s.

 

I contacted Elise Pittelman who was the owner of the Piddidly Links company; she indicated that she did indeed place an order for this bow finding from Guyot during the first half of the 1970s.

 

This  Victorian Revival/taille d’epargne/steampunk brooch and earrings set is probably from the 1970s (or later) as well. The crescent shape is also a Guyot finding (#01905.)

 

Guyot did occasionally produce their findings in sterling as a special order for a client. According to their records, this sterling silver #5916 bow was produced for a company named Beaucraft. The seller of this brooch gave its weight as 5.8 grams. Beaucraft operated in Providence, RI from 1947 until 2004. Beaucraft and Beau items were usually marked via an applied cartouche saying either Beau or Beaucraft, so this may have been one of the early examples. The company did not register either trademark until 1961.

A portion of the Guyot Brothers’ catalog  is viewable online; it is divided into Filigree stampings, Ornaments, and Charms & Novelties. Their #5916 and #8600 bows appear on page 5 of the Ornaments section. All of the Ornament and Filigree findings appear to be “flat” like the vintage brooches shown above (no wraparound sides.)

Unfortunately, Guyot’s records do not indicate that they supplied any of the stampings that my Mystery Maker used. Again, many thanks to Andrea and Steven for their assistance in researching the various stampings of this small bow.

And the hunt for the MJM’s identity continues……!

Browse the other posts in the Mystery Jewelry Maker series
Descriptive index of all Mystery Maker jewelry shown in this blog