Fortunately vase's patina undisturbed

Dear E.R.: The "HAMS" initials on this piece stand for "Heintz Art Metal Shop," which was in business in Buffalo, N.Y., from 1906 to 1930. Otto Heintz (1877-1918) began his metalworking career at his Art Crafts Shop, creating objects from copper and decorating them with enamel.

In 1906, he changed the name of his enterprise to "Heintz Art Metal Shop" and began working with bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) decorated with sterling-silver overlays in naturalistic forms. He worked in the American Arts and Crafts style that is most often associated with Elbert Hubbard and his Roycroft community and Gustav Stickley and his Craftsman Workshop.

Heintz patented a process in 1912 (thus the date on the piece belonging to E.R.) for a process of applying sterling-silver overlays to a bronze body without using any solder. The bodies themselves were machine-formed and were treated with chemicals to produce artificial patinas that can be found in a variety of colors and textures.

When Heintz got his patent in 1912 he adopted the logo found on the vase in today's question. This mark was in use until the company went out of business in 1930, one of the victims of the Great Depression. Unfortunately, Otto Heintz had died suddenly in 1918, and his business went on for the next 12 years without its founder at the helm.

The Heintz Art Metal Shop made a wide variety of objects from bronze and sterling silver, including lamps, trophies, bookends, ashtrays, boxes, desk sets, vases and bowls, with vases being the most commonly found form. The silver encrustations most often feature stylized renderings of flowers such as roses, poppies, violets and, like the piece in today's question, thistles. But occasionally, other representations will appear such as the figure of a bowler on a trophy.

The monetary value of an example of Heintz Art Metal depends very much on its condition. Unsightly dents and scratches can be a significant minus, but the big problem often revolves around disturbing the original artificial patina that was applied when the piece was new.