Antique Anton Reiche German Tin Heart Chocolate Mold Hinged Inscribed Mother with Flowers Unique

Be still my beating heart is what came to mind when I first saw this absolutely fabulous Heart Tin Chocolate Mold! This mold was part of a collector's 30 year accumulation of unusual and rare heart ~ related pieces.

The mold is marked "T.C. Weygant Co, Made in New York USA Germany" and is heavy. I was confused as to where this piece was made because of the ambiguous mark of origin, so I consulted Wendy Mullen of "Victorian Chocolate Molds". She is very knowledgeable and has written books on the subject. ~Please go to my "Links" page to visit her wonderful site.~ She advised that this mold is actually made by Anton Reiche in Germany and that the Weygrant Company was the distributor. This piece dates to the 1920's and is German.

What makes this heart mold so special is the inside flange in the middle that was used to form a locking lip for the heart box. Wendy refers to this as an alignment locking lip because it made a crisp locking edge so the lid would stay put. Interesting! This heart mold is also very special because of the incised "Mother" with a simple but yet pretty spray of flowers off to the left of the letter "M"! When I asked Wendy what her thoughts were as far as if this was designed for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, she said most likely Valentine's Day but could also work for Mother's Day as well. It must be such a burden to be brilliant! LOL! :)

This wonderful mold is in very good condition boasting a dark, almost pewter surface. The word "Mother" and the flowers are a lighter color and really stand out against the dark background. There is a small curve on the right side of the mold where the tin is not flat but it is not creased, as shown in image 7. The inside is a little shiny and looks more like sterling because this finish was protected though the years with clips that secured a tight fit.

The heart mold is marked with numbers in two places, first on the top left side edge and the second set of numbers appear on the flange over to the right as can be seen in image 15. This piece is hinged in the back as shown in image 5.

This heart mold will definitely bring value to your collection or would even be a great starter piece! Hard to find and very unique! Chocolate anyone? Enjoy!

The mold measures 5 1/4" across the widest point @ the top ( 1 3/4" across the bottom point of the heart), 6 3/4" including the front clip to the end of the hinge & 1 3/4" Tall which includes the height of puffed heart.