Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks & The Age of Oak - 1st October 2025
Lot 636
A FINE SPANISH DAMASCENED STEEL CASKET
Estimate £3,000 - £5,000 | Hammer £4064
Inc. Buyers Premium
Description
A FINE SPANISH DAMASCENED STEEL CASKET
BY PLACIDO ZULOAGA (1834-1910), C.1880
the domed cover with a central monogram inside arabesque, foliate and scrolling decoration, the sides and key with similar decoration, with a buttoned, burgundy silk lined interior, the lock plate inscribed 'P. ZULOAGA EN EIBAR', on bun feet
13cm high, 17.4cm wide, 9.7cm deep
Provenance
The Michael Baggott Collection.
Catalogue Note
Placido Zuolaoga was a Spanish sculptor and artist who became renowned for his damascene decoration, inlaying gold, silver, and other metals into an iron or steel surface. He was praised in his day as ' a second Benvenuto Cellini'. His first recognition as an artist came in 1855 when, together with his father Eusebio, they exhibited at the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris where an anonymous visitor commented that 'One cannot praise too highly the arms and other metal objects presented by the Sres. Zuloaga, father and son.....iron-chiselling, damascene, etching and repoussé never had interpreters of such obvious and varied talent'.