Beautiful 1930s Art Deco Aquarium up for grabs on eBay

by | Aug 13, 2014 | Advanced Aquarist | 0 comments

Description from the eBay listing:


This is a beautiful Jewel “ART” Aquarium manufactured in the early 1930’s in the arts & crafts style. Jewel was the prominent manufacture of art deco and other unique style aquariums during the deco era of 1920-30’s. The company was sold in the 1940’s and there aquariums were of a much simpler style after this time period.

What is unique about this aquarium is it was the only cataloged Jewel tank that was “special order” only and you could request the style of stained glass “light boxes” you wanted on each end or in the case of this aquarium you could have beveled glass with a simple design on the front glass. In a conversation with the son of Hans Jensen (original owner of Jewel) he said they made 5 of these aquariums at the most. The aquarium itself is made of heavy iron with a thick marble base. The two stained glass sidelights light up of course and this aquarium sits on an it’s original Jewel stand. All the glass and metal is original to the tank including the interesting pattern glass on the inside bottom/sides.

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Size: 48″L x 17 1/4″H x 18″W. Height with stand is 47″. Also, I was asked what the inside tank dimension is that would hold water. It is: L 34 1/2″ x W 14 1/2″ x H 14 1/2″. Total 31.4 gallons.

Condition: All original including glass. If this sells I can re-seal the inside should you wish to use with tropical fish. Also, one stained glass panel has two cracks that I can have repaired (see photo) plus I would like to re-fasten the stained glass to the frames for safety. Please check out the photos and ask any questions.

This is the rarest of the Jewel aquarium line!!

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  • I'm a passionate aquarist of over 30 years, a coral reef lover, and the blog editor for Advanced Aquarist. While aquarium gadgets interest me, it's really livestock (especially fish), artistry of aquariums, and "method behind the madness" processes that captivate my attention.

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