Large Cut Glass Inkwell by Mauser Mfg. Co.

This large American brilliant cut glass inkwell has a repoussé floral sterling silver lid with a monogram. The mark for the Mauser Manufacturing Co. is located below the hinge.

Mauser Manufacturing Co. was a company that produced high-quality silverware and other metal products in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The business was founded in 1887 by Frank Mauser in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. In 1888 Frank O. Coombs became a partner in Frank Mauser & Co., beginning his activity in the firm as designer and chaser.

In the 1890s the firm moved to New York, changing its name to Mauser Mfg. Co. The factory was located in Mt. Vernon with a shop in 15th Street and, from 1904, in the more expensive Fifth Avenue at the corner of 31^st Street. In 1903 Mauser Mfg. Co purchased J.B. & S.M. Knowles (founded in Providence, RI, in 1875).

Frank Mauser died in 1908 and the firm suffered a slow decline until the closure and the sale of the Fifth Avenue retail store in 1912. In 1913, the Mauser Mfg. Co merged with Hayes & McFarland Company of Mount Vernon, NY, and the Roger Williams Silver Company of Providence, RI, forming Mt. Vernon Company Silversmiths. Mt. Vernon Company Silversmiths was purchased by the Gorham Corporation in 1920 continuing production under its name until 1923.