Renaissance Man Antiques Decorative Boxes

An extraordinary example of high style Art Deco design by one of Italy's masters in the 1930s -- Angelo Simonetto -- this covered, oval ceramic box depicts a golden barc or sailboat ...

Although it has endured many scuffs and indignities, this extremely rare Art Deco box still charms, the figures on its lid playing the violin and dancing to the old children's tune of "Sur le Pont D'Avignon." The ancient bridge in Avignon, Provence has been the subject of song since the 16th century, but the song that is beloved today was first published in the mid-19th century. Here, the artist depicts a central fiddler flanked by two couples with elongated limbs, wide-brimmed hats and elegant dress. The sides of the box depict the wide arches of the bridge, with fish swimming in the water below. The exterior is covered with a paper printed in color lithography, and the interior is painted candy apple red. The scene is signed "Tolmer," perhaps Roger Tolmer...

Created at the height of the Art Deco period, in 1940s France, but clearly inspired by the monumental male nudes of Michelangelo and the high Renaissance in Italy, this 1942 drawing ...

Beautifully crafted of hammered silver -- now with a soft, old silver patina -- enamel and rosewood, this exceptional decorative box depicts a wildly imaginative crane-like bird with...

Crafted by Ludwig Vierthaler for the Josef Winhart metalwork company in Munich, this gorgeous and singular lidded canister displays the bravura repoussé work that the artist is known for. Winhart hammered elaborate Secession-style swirls and geometric patterns into the sides and lid of this piece, and enriched the lid with midnight blue and ruddy brown enamels. The entire piece has a subtle hammered finish and a streaky patina that gives the surface great depth of color. Interestingly, Vierthaler spent years as a metalsmith at Tiffany and Company in New York...

Beautifully detailed with symbols of the arts, including literature, sculpture, pottery and spinning, this silvered bronze casket with hinged lid and mahogany interior was produced b...

Striking in its originality and abstraction, this high-style Art Deco lidded porcelain box is decorated with a series of foliate and abstract motifs, executed in silver glaze, that h...

Beautifully finished in panels of ivory-toned shagreen, this hinged box is a superb example of the craftsmanship practiced by the famed Asprey Company in London. Founded in the late ...

Striking and rare, this round covered Art Deco box depicts two traditional boats with sails on the Nile River, with two of the great Pyramids of Egypt...

Beautifully cast and finished with a lovely, lustrous patina, this bronze lidded box depicts all 12 of the Zodiac symbols -- four on the lid and two ...

Gorgeously glazed in tones of gold and warm, dark gray, this lidded ceramic box depicts a leaping deer on its cover, the spots on its fur echoed b...

Highly unusual and brilliantly glazed, this covered box features a sequence of geometric shapes in bas relief that are filled with pools of vivid, jewel-toned glazes in sapphire, eme...

Brilliantly glazed in spring green, ivory and dark brown, and decorated with highly abstract zigzag and foliate motifs, this highly rare covered box is a superb example of American A...