Sterling Silver Matchsafe Copied - American Art Nouveau

The new sterling matchsafe on the left is shown with its Made in Thailand paper tag. It was copied from the American Art Nouveau original on the right.

The easiest way to detect this and many other new match safes is to look for a striker. A striker is an area of parallel grooves used to ignite the match. Most strikers are on the bottom of the matchsafe; some are along the side.

On the original, the striker is on the bottom. The bottom of this new example is perfectly smooth; there is no striker. Wholesale cost of new matchsafe, $36.

Fig. 1 New sterling matchsafe, left, is made in Thailand. Original matchsafe, right, was made in American, ca. 1890-1910.

Fig. 2 This new matchsafe does not have a striker on the bottom. The bottom is perfectly smooth. All originals have strikers. They are usually on either the bottom or along the side.