An antique, T. B. Starr, Belle Époque diamond, pearl, platinum and gold brooch, featuring a natural pearl, in the centre of an Art Nouveau double whiplash, above three graduating loops, with foliate scroll terminals, set with old-cut diamonds, in grain settings, with larger diamonds, in rub over settings, at the bottom of the scrolls and in five old-cut diamond and natural pearl pendant drops, mounted in platinum on gold; with a gold pin, signed T. B. STARR., with a safety catch fitting, circa 1905.
Theodore B. Starr was among the most prominent and influential jewellery and silversmithing firms in New York, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in 1837, Theodore Starr founded his company in 1862, at No.18 John Street. He went into partnership with jeweller and silversmith, Herman Marcus, in 1864. The company became known as Starr and Marcus. Marcus left to join Tiffany & Co., in 1877. Starr bought back control of the company, with the name of the company reverting to Theodore B. Starr. The company was incorporated in 1907, by Starr's son. On 1st July, 1918, their stock was purchased by the silver firm of Reed and Barton. The firm maintained a shop at 47th Street and Fifth Avenue. Theodore B. Starr finally closed its doors in 1923.
Starr’s work was heralded in the press. On 18th March, 1880, “The Independent” published an article in which "The House of Theodore B. Starr" is described as an establishment that develops, "an educated demand for ‘beauty in use;’" and where one will find, "his taste and his intelligence stimulated."
Starr encouraged Henry Schrady to cast miniature bronzes that the company could cast from and sell copies of. The bronzes Schrady made were among the first in the US to use the lost-wax process. It was in Starr's gallery that Karl Bitter first saw Schrady's work and hired him to make larger versions of his bull moose and elk buffalo sculptures, to be shown at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. One cast of the bull moose can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.
With thanks to Wikipedia, Met Museum and Stein Marks
