Arthur Stone Sterling Silver Arts & Crafts Pill Box, Gardner, MA, c. 1915

This sterling silver pill box was made by Herbert Taylor, one of the leading silversmiths at the Arthur Stone shop. The slightly domed lid is attached with a wonderful hinge on the back and is decorated around the edge of the top with wonderful incised lines, circles and flowers.

While the other artisans in Stone's shop raised objects, the chasing was done by Stone himself until 1925. Most of the silver from Stone's shop features very little chasing, if any at all. Only the nicest pieces to leave the shop were decorated like this. Pieces like this with simple chased floral decoration are rare examples of the finest silver his shop produced.

According to the premiere issue of Silver Collector magazine (1985, p. 62), a similar pillbox is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. An almost identical pillbox with inlaid gold flowers is pictured in Arthur J. Stone, p. 90. This box may be slightly earlier than we date it, however the shop mark on this box does not appear to have been used before about 1910.

This wonderful pill box is marked underneath with Stone's impressed hammer mark along with 'STERLING/ T.' The 'T' denotes work by Herbert A. Taylor (one of only eight silversmiths who achieved the honor of 'Medalist' within the Society of Arts & Crafts). The box measures just over 2 inches long by .5 inches high by 1.5 inches deep and weighs 1.20 troy ounces. It is in excellent condition and has never been monogrammed.