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ANTIQUE LARTER & SONS COMPLETE GENTLEMAN\'S FORMAL DRESS SET
MOTHER OF PEARL • CUFFLINKS • SHIRT STUDS • VEST BUTTONS • ORIGINAL BOX & PAPERWORK
EDWARDIAN / ART NOUVEAU INFLUENCE • EARLY ART DECO • c. 1910s–1920s
An unusually complete surviving antique gentleman\'s formal dress combination set by Larter & Sons, the celebrated American jewelry manufacturer associated with Newark, New Jersey and New York\'s historic jewelry trade.
Rather than the much more commonly encountered small cufflink-and-stud set, this remarkable ensemble retains the components necessary for a coordinated period formal shirt and waistcoat: six large matching vest buttons, three smaller shirt studs, and one pair of double-sided cufflinks, all decorated in matching iridescent white mother-of-pearl.
The two double-sided cufflinks provide four decorated shell faces, giving the ensemble a total of 13 matching mother-of-pearl faces across the complete dress arrangement.
Also retained are the removable metal retaining pins / fasteners used with the vest buttons — small working components that are frequently separated or lost when antique dress sets are broken apart.
The luminous decorative surfaces show shifting pearl-like iridescence with flashes reminiscent of mother-of-pearl, abalone shell, moonstone and opalescent nacre, giving the set an especially rich Art Nouveau / Art Deco jewelry-box appearance. These terms describe the visual effect and aesthetic; exact decorative materials have not been independently verified.
Even more unusually, the set survives in its original Larter fitted presentation case together with period paper inventory / retail documentation, creating a much more complete historic object than a loose group of antique cufflinks or shirt studs.
The inside lid bears the original gold-stamped identification:
LARTER
REGISTERED TRADE MARK
SHIRT & VEST SET
along with Larter\'s distinctive pictorial trademark depicting a shirt stud in profile.
The original paper inventory card identifies the ensemble as a COM. SET / 6 V-B, apparently indicating a combination set containing six vest buttons, and retains handwritten or printed references corresponding to:
Vest Buttons — 527
Cuff Buttons — 927
Shirt Studs — 312 / 3/2
These numbers appear to represent period stock, style or pattern references; no surviving factory catalog has been located by the seller to definitively decode them.
A separate original paper hang tag remains with the set and is handwritten:
7E
5.50
The “5.50” very likely represents the original retail price of $5.50, although the exact meaning of the accompanying “7E” notation is unknown and may have been a retailer stock, tray, inventory or department code.
THE MOTHER-OF-PEARL
The decorative faces appear to be genuine natural white mother-of-pearl / MOP / nacre shell, displaying the subtle iridescent blue, pink, cream and silvery coloration characteristic of natural nacre.
These are not simply plain polished mother-of-pearl discs.
Each face carries a delicate repeating scrolling / foliate engraved border around its perimeter, giving the set significantly more decorative character than many surviving Larter dress sets with plain shell faces.
The pattern has an elegant transitional quality: flowing scrollwork associated with Edwardian and Art Nouveau decorative vocabulary, paired with the restrained round form, white-and-gold palette and clean formal presentation that would continue naturally into the early Art Deco period.
The overall effect is sophisticated and relatively minimalist from a distance, while revealing surprisingly intricate detail when viewed closely.
ENGRAVING / GUILLOCHE / DECORATIVE METHOD
The decoration is visibly cut, engraved or incised into the shell.
The precise original manufacturing method for this specific Larter pattern has not been conclusively identified, so the seller does not represent one technique as definitively proven.
Possible period methods include hand engraving, hand carving, line engraving, wheel or rotary engraving, machine engraving, ornamental turning, engine turning, guilloché / guilloche cutting, or a combination of machine-produced patterning with hand finishing.
Because antique Larter jewelry is known in multiple decorative techniques, the border may reasonably be described for search and research purposes as an engraved / incised / guilloché-style scrolling mother-of-pearl design, while leaving the exact manufacturing process open to further specialist identification.
No claim is made that this particular set has been conclusively proven to be entirely hand engraved or entirely machine engine-turned.
LARTER\'S INGENIOUS MECHANICAL BACKS
One of the most fascinating aspects of the set is hidden behind the mother-of-pearl.
Larter became particularly associated with ingenious spring-back / spring-loaded formal shirt studs and vest-button mechanisms designed to make removable dress jewelry easier and more secure to use with the stiff, heavily laundered and starched formal shirts and waistcoats of the period.
The surviving shirt studs on this set retain their unusual elongated sliding / spring-loaded plunger-style backs, a dramatically different mechanism from an ordinary modern cufflink or fixed shirt stud.
The elongated crossbar compresses or slides for insertion through the garment opening and then returns to a secure position, creating a broader retaining surface behind the fabric.
These mechanical backs are not later replacements or generic modern findings — they are an important part of Larter\'s identity as a manufacturer of specialized men\'s formal jewelry.
The vest-button arrangement is equally interesting. Period formal waistcoat buttons could be removed from garments for laundering and pressing, allowing the valuable decorative fronts to be preserved rather than repeatedly exposed to water, starch, heat and ironing. This set retains the separate fastening hardware associated with that system.
For a collector of antique mechanical jewelry, men\'s dress accessories, tailoring history, white-tie accessories or early 20th-century formalwear, the backs are arguably as interesting as the decorative fronts.
METAL / HALLMARK INFORMATION
Metal components carry the distinctive Larter pictorial shirt-stud trademark.
Some components appear stamped “RP” + Larter pictorial mark, while others appear stamped “P” + Larter pictorial mark.
No 10K, 14K, 18K or other solid-gold fineness mark has been located.
The RP marking is consistent with terminology historically used for rolled plate / rolled gold plate / RGP construction, while the P-marked components may indicate plated construction. Because no original Larter specification sheet for this exact numbered set has been located, the listing conservatively describes the metal as gold-tone / rolled-gold-plate or plated construction rather than solid gold.
Possible underlying period base metals in jewelry of this construction include brass, bronze or another copper-alloy base, while the internal spring or mechanical portions may incorporate steel or another harder base metal.
Metal content has not been professionally assayed or XRF tested, and no specific karat content is being represented.
This set is not being sold as solid gold.
Although “gold filled” is sometimes used loosely by online sellers when describing antique mechanically bonded gold finishes, this set is marked RP/P rather than GF and therefore is being described more specifically as rolled gold plate / gold plated rather than claiming gold-filled construction.
COMPLETE FORMAL CONFIGURATION
This set contains:
6 larger mother-of-pearl vest / waistcoat button faces, with their corresponding removable retaining hardware; 3 smaller matching mother-of-pearl shirt studs with Larter mechanical spring/sliding backs; 1 pair of matching double-sided cufflinks carrying four additional decorated MOP faces; 13 coordinated mother-of-pearl decorative faces in total; original fitted Larter Registered Trade Mark Shirt & Vest Set presentation case; original COM. SET / 6 V-B inventory card identifying vest buttons, cuff buttons and shirt studs; and original “7E / 5.50” paper price or stock tag.
WHY THIS SET STANDS OUT
Larter cufflinks and individual shirt studs survive in significant numbers, and smaller boxed tuxedo sets periodically appear on the antique market.
What is much less often encountered is a combination set retaining the six-button vest component, all of the small fastening hardware, matching engraved mother-of-pearl throughout, mechanical Larter shirt studs, double-sided cufflinks, branded original case and period paper documentation together.
The paperwork is particularly valuable from a collecting standpoint because it preserves information normally lost when jewelry is removed from its original retail context. The card identifies the intended division between Vest Buttons / Cuff Buttons / Shirt Studs, while the surviving numbered references provide potential leads for future Larter catalog research.
The intact arrangement also illustrates an entire category of men\'s formal jewelry that has largely disappeared from modern dress: removable decorative buttons designed as a coordinated jewelry suite for shirt, cuffs and waistcoat.
STYLE & PERIOD
Stylistically, the set sits comfortably in the transition between Edwardian / late Art Nouveau-influenced design and early Art Deco men\'s jewelry, approximately the 1910s–1920s.
The flowing engraved shell border retains the curvilinear quality associated with turn-of-the-century decorative arts, while the clean circular format, restrained monochromatic mother-of-pearl surface and precise repetition anticipate the more controlled geometry and minimalism of Art Deco formal jewelry.
Suitable search and collecting terminology therefore includes:
Antique Larter & Sons, Larter Sons cufflinks, antique tuxedo set, formal dress set, white tie jewelry, mother of pearl cufflinks, MOP shirt studs, vest buttons, waistcoat buttons, cuff buttons, Edwardian jewelry, Art Nouveau men\'s jewelry, early Art Deco jewelry, 1910s jewelry, 1920s jewelry, engraved mother of pearl, carved MOP, guilloche mother of pearl, guilloché shell, engine turned jewelry, incised shell, rolled gold plate, RGP jewelry, gold plated antique jewelry, spring back studs, spring loaded shirt studs, mechanical shirt studs, loose link buttons, double sided cufflinks, Newark jewelry, American antique jewelry, original presentation box, antique men\'s formalwear and collectible gentleman\'s jewelry.
CONDITION
Excellent overall antique / vintage presentation considering age.
The mother-of-pearl faces retain strong natural luster and iridescence with the engraved border patterns clearly visible. No obvious major chips or cracks are apparent in the photographed faces.
Gold-tone metal components show age-appropriate surface variation, patina and wear consistent with antique use and storage.
The mechanical components appear remarkably well preserved for their age.
The original case shows expected exterior/interior wear from age and storage, but importantly remains with the set.
Original paper labels and tags show age-related discoloration, handwriting, handling and wear and have intentionally not been cleaned, altered or discarded.
Please examine all enlarged photographs carefully, as the photographs form an important part of the description and document the condition, maker marks, construction, mechanisms and surviving paperwork.
An exceptionally evocative survivor from the era when a gentleman\'s buttons were jewelry — not simply fasteners.
