For many thousands of years, silver has been a fascinating metal. This book presents outstanding objects from a Dutch private collection dating from the by now internationally acclaimed Jugendstil and Art Deco periods and the years to 1940. Designers from many countries have worked with this material, and the publication documents the great riches in ideas for new shapes and ornamentation made possible after defeat of historicism. A panorama of European masterpieces from England, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Norway. Together with excellent illustrations of each object, a scholarly text provides background information and descriptions of every item. What is especially important for the collector is that the book boasts illustrations of more than 50 designer's and maker's marks. Artists and manufacturers include: Charles Robert Ashbee, Bruckmann & Sohne, Hans Christiansen, Christofle, Jean Despres, Christopher Dresser, Jan Eisenloeffel, Bernhard Hoetgar, Josef Hoffmann, Patriz Huber, Georg Jensen, Archibald Knox, Liberty & co., Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Henry van de Velde, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Wiener Werkstatte Wolfers Freres and others.