Absolutely gorgeous & rare antique French hallmarked 18k gold on sterling silver or “vermeil” and oversized, heavy wheel cut crystal 4 1/8” paperweight style inkwell, Gustave Keller Paris silversmith! I’ve always had a special place in my heart for these oversized “paperweight” type inkwells, normally though we find them with English silver. This one with a rare French silver top and, even more rare, with the French vermeil or gold plating to the silver. Stunning! Thick, heavy, solid crystal that weighs a hair under 4.5 lbs and with a diamond like shimmering facet cut base. The vermeil silver top with the French Minerve or Minerva hallmark, the tiny number “1” within those marks means it’s in .950 silver (95% pure so above the .925 standard for “sterling” silver). The silversmith mark is for Gustave Keller, a notable French silversmith, Paris circa 1881-1922. As beautiful as any we’ve had, rare large size and fabulous condition!

Very good to excellent condition! Possibly a tiny nip or two to the base but no larger chips, no cracks or other flaws in the heavy crystal body. The vermeil sterling silver top has a bit of wear to the gold plating, the silver showing through in some areas, particularly in the bead festooned raised portions and a few spots or ‘nicks’ on the actual flat lid area. It would have had an inner glass ink pot but it’s gone missing over the years. See pictures for all measurements.

Return Policy:
We always honor a 3-day return on our items, and guarantee them to be as described. Money back, less shipping costs, which are not refundable, so ask questions if necessary. We're easy to deal with.

Shipping and Handling Policy:

You are very important! Our fine inventory is very important. And your ranking of our performance is also very important! We wish to keep our 4.9 - 5 star ratings in all categories. Customer satisfaction is paramount with us, so if you're thinking we have not deserved your highest marks, please contact us and allow us to be sure your concerns are completely satisfied before you rank us. We aim for 5-star transactions every day, and depend upon you to tell us directly if we have not yet met that standard for your transaction. Thank you! We most often use USPS for our shipping needs but will be happy to ship by another carrier if you prefer.

We charge only actual postage & insurance, never a handling fee and never for packaging materials. Ebay is now requiring that our clients rank us on "shipping". The shipping price, speed and handling are actually under the sole control of the delivering postal agency, not Antiques & Uncommon Treasure so please remember that and leave us high DSR rankings. As always, please also feel free to contact us if you have any problems or concerns, we'll do what we can to ensure a happy and mutually enjoyable transaction.

Insurance has been eliminated as an option by ebay, forcing us sellers to either ship your items without insurance or assume that expense also. We always insure our items BUT, more importantly, pack them extremely well knowing that most are not replaceable. Again, damage in transit, while rare in our experience, is due to the postal agency handling and not caused by Antiques & Uncommon Treasure. Please remember that when leaving DSR ratings. Thanks!

Our shipping days are Tuesday and Friday, paid items will be shipped on the first shipping day after payment is received (except when special circumstances exist). We prefer to use USPS whenever possible, and require all packages to be insured. If you prefer another method of shipment, please mention it. We charge only actual expense of shipment/insurance, except in the case of larger items which must have special wood crates built. Wood crate charge, when applicable, is a flat $35.00 in addition to actual postage & insurance charges.

Other Information:
8.75% sales tax applicable as of April 1st, 2009 for shipments & sales within the state of California, no exceptions. If you are within CA and are a dealer buying for resale, you must provide us your active resale certificate # and acknowledgment of intent to resell or we will have to collect sales tax. No exceptions.

Auction Payment Methods:
Paypal: E-Check, Visa, Mastercard, etc.. Credit card payment by online service only, no direct processing.