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Material: Metal
Sterling Silver Jewellery Box, Completely Handmade, Made in Italy
Located in Milano, IT
Sterling silver jewelry box, completely handmade, made in Italy.
Embossed, chiselled, engraved in our workshop, in Milano
Ganci Argenterie - Hallmark 110MI, one of the oldest Italian Silversmith
ag...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver
Large Antique Carved Painted Collectibles Box with Lions
Located in Haddonfield, NJ
Antique carved wood painted box featuring two lions. This rectangular box features a hinged lid made of iron. The box is perfect for collectables as well as securing important docume...
Category
Late 19th Century European Folk Art Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Metal
Box, Germany, Jugendstil, Art Nouveau, Liberty, 1890, Sign, WMF
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
Box
Page: 299 in the Book – Art Nouveau Domestic Metalwork from WMF Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik: The English Catalogue 1906 Hardcover
Signatures:
WMF G with ostrich = The fir...
Category
1890s German Art Nouveau Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Metal
Art Deco French Chrome & Enamel Ladies Powder Compact, C1930s
Located in Devon, England
This is a really cute and rare find, a 1930's Art Deco compact with the most delightful green and black enamel decoration on a chrome casing . The interior is an engineers delight with a sliding latch on the side of the compact to secure the power in place. Upon opening the lid reveals the mechanics that operates and reveals a powder dispenser...
Category
Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Enamel, Chrome
Outstanding quality antique Victorian burr walnut vanity box
Located in Ipswich, GB
Outstanding quality antique Victorian burr walnut vanity box, having a outstanding quality antique Victorian burr walnut vanity box with a lift up l...
Category
19th Century Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Silver Plate, Brass
Bronze and Slag Glass Tiffany Jewelry Box, Art Deco Period, United States
Located in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Bronze and slag glass Tiffany jewelry box. Art Deco period. United States circa 1900. Signed in the back "Tiffany Studios New York 821".
Category
Early 1900s American Art Deco Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Bronze
Very Rare Casket Minnekästchen or Box, Germany or Italy, 15th Century
Located in Beuzevillette, FR
Wooden coffret, call minnekästchen, engraved with a dog, a hare and foliage with
polychromy remains. During the Middle Age, the hare is a symbol of fertility, joy and represents the Christ...
Category
15th Century and Earlier European Gothic Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Iron
Large Chinese Jewelry Box Jewelry Box Jade Rosewood Brass
Located in Poperinge, BE
Large Vintage rosewood wooden jewelry box, jewelry storage box with 5 drawers and 2 doors, decorated with jade and brass fittings, circa mid 20th century, marked Shanghai made in Chi...
Category
1960s Chinese Chinoiserie Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Chinese Jewelry Box with Drawers Jewelry Box Jade Rosewood Brass
Located in Poperinge, BE
Old Chinese rosewood jewelry box with 2 doors and 3 drawers, jewelry box with brass fittings and a jade plaque in the center of the doors and sides, inside a red lining with silver-c...
Category
1960s Chinese Chinoiserie Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Old Chinese Jewelry Box Jewelry Box Jade Rosewood Brass
Located in Poperinge, BE
Old Chinese rosewood wooden jewelry box, jewelry box with brass fittings and a jade plaque in the center of the lid, inside a red lining with golden floral decoration, second half of...
Category
1960s Chinese Chinoiserie Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Murano Barbini White Black Spots Gold Flecks Italian Art Glass Vanity Powder Box
Located in Kissimmee, FL
Beautiful vintage Murano hand blown white, dark purple / black and gold flecks Italian art glass vanity powder or jewelry box. Documented to designer Alfredo Barbini, circa 1950s. Th...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Gold Leaf
Onyx Marble Jewelry Trinket Box
Located in New York, NY
A small neutral onyx marble round jewelry or trinket box, in the Modern style, circa 20th century. Box is round with coordinating lid. A convenient piece to hold small items, jewelry...
Category
20th Century Modern Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Onyx, Marble, Brass
Monumental Louis XIV Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Boulle Marquetry Casket Box
Located in New York, NY
A Monumental Louis XIV style French gilt-bronze mounted wood boulle marquetry casket box, circa 1895
Known in French as a carré de toilette, this casket has canted corners with lavi...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XIV Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass, Bronze
9 Drawer Negligee Chest by Maitland Smith in Faux Malachite Finish
Located in New York, NY
Chic narrow 9 drawer chest by Maitland Smith, having a faux malachite finish with brass hand grip pulls. Possibly originally designed as a negligee chest...
Category
Late 20th Century American Hollywood Regency Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Pill Box Fired Enamel with Hand Painted Horse Head Sterling Silver Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Rounded square pill box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with white fired enamel, above and below, with hand painted horse head. Dimensions cm. 5.2 x 5.2 x 2.3. Weight gr. 117. Designed by Franco Salimbeni in 1966 on the inspiration of previous artefacts made in the English Art Nouveau style of the early 1900s and manufactured in the Salimbeni company headquarters in Florence in numerous specimens also with different subjects, with completely manual execution by artisan artists with a slab of high thickness suitable for supporting numerous enamelled firings at around 800°C.
Miniature is a very ancient technique which consists of painting works in small proportions.
It was born for the decoration of the first letter of the paragraph of the books.
Over the years, however, this technique is refined and enriched, then moving on to precious personal items.
Hand-painted miniatures can be done with multiple different techniques.
The most important that we use on our articles are of three kinds:
1) Fire enamel.
2) Water tempera on an ivory plate.
3) Painted on mother-of-pearl.
Fire enameled miniatures:
On a first layer of enamel generally white or very clear or even transparent suitably liquefied at a temperature of about 750 ° C, the chosen subject is painted using miniature colors which are as many colored crystals, ground and reduced to a very fine, almost impalpable powder washed and purified in distilled water with the addition of small quantities of deoxidizing acids which, diluted with essential oils (usually essential oil of solder), can be mixed to form a palette of colors.
With very fine sable hair brushes you draw the subject starting from the perimeter and then gradually adding various layers of color.
It is necessary to carry out various firings very often so that the colors harden and are not absorbed by the underlying glaze as, during the subsequent firings at 750 ° C, during liquefaction, it would spread irremediably. Hence the need to form the painting a little at a time, cooking it numerous times.
Therefore it is necessary to proceed with numerous retouching, often overlapping different colors that only the painter's experience knows. A beautiful miniature needs from 20 to over 50 firings and is finished when the painter deems he does not have to further intervene.
Some colors must have darker tones than others because then, by superimposing the transparent enamel placed at the end of the miniature, they fade. This transparent layer, called “fondant” in jargon, must be smoothed and polished like all other translucent enamel colors.
The miniatures with water tempera colors are painted on real...
Category
1960s Italian Art Nouveau Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver
Bronze Casket by Just Andersen, 1920s, Denmark
Located in Værløse, DK
Lidded Casket in Bronze alloy made by Just Andersen in the 1920s. A beautiful piece for an exquisite home.
* Casket / lidded box in light-bronze alloy with and inside wood box. Orn...
Category
1920s Danish Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Bronze
Ormolu and Crystal Glass Trinket Jewelry Box, France, circa 1880s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
A gorgeous glass trinket box with ormolu mounts. No restoration has been carried out on this charming little trinket box, which remains in very stabile and functioning condition, wea...
Category
Early 1900s French Art Nouveau Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Ormolu
Bronze Jewelry-Casket with Ornate Etchings and Cameos Inlaid by Tahan of Paris
By Tahan Paris
Located in Soquel, CA
Bronze Jewelry-Casket with Ornate Etchings and Cameos Inlaid by Tahan of Paris
Gorgeously detailed jewelry box by Tahan of Paris. There are four Cameos bezel set on three sides of t...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Bronze
Aimara Medium Brass Box
By AIREDELSUR
Located in Buenos Aires, AR
The waves on a choppy lake, rough by the wind, inspire the design of alpaca boxes and picture frames of this family, whose name comes from the tribe that dwelled in the North Argenti...
Category
2010s Argentine Organic Modern Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Italian Marble Round Jewelry or Trinket Box
Located in New York, NY
A beautiful small Italian blue, white and black alabaster marble round jewelry or trinket box, circa mid-20th century, Italy. Alabaster marble is a combination of blue hues with touc...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Alabaster, Marble, Metal
Antique Bronze Burl Walnut French Jewelry Sewing Casket Silk Lined Interior 19C
Located in Dublin, Ireland
An exceptionally fine quality example of a Lady’s or Gentleman’s early Victorian Period Gilt Bronze mounted well figured Burr Walnut Jewlery Casket or Table Box made during the third...
Category
19th Century French Victorian Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Egg Purple Red enamel with tripod Sterling Silver Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Egg Purple Red enamel is in 925/1000 sterling silver.
Egg Purple Red enamel has fired enamels on guilloché has fired enamels on guilloché and design engraved by hand.
Egg Purple Red...
Category
1960s Italian Empire Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Late 19th-Early 20th Century Ottoman Empire Silver Jewelry Casket
Located in Chapel Hill, NC
Late 19th-early 20th century Ottoman Empire Grand Scale Silver Jewelry Casket. Velvet lining; with a presentation case. 900 standard silver guarantee hallmark, SK mark unidentified, ...
Category
Early 20th Century Turkish Empire Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Silver
Antique French Silvered Copper Jewellery Casket Box B Wicker 19th C
Located in London, GB
This is a beautiful Antique silvered copper French Jewellery Casket, engraved by by the famous French engraver B.Wicker, Paris C 1880's.
This...
Category
1880s French Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Copper
Scandinavian Jewelry Bronze Trinket Box with Daisies, 1920s
Located in Esbjerg, DK
Small unusual jewelry trinket in bronze, brass and metal. The lid and bottom is decorated with daisies . Its interior is linned with green textile. It was made in the late 10s or ear...
Category
1920s European Late Victorian Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Metal, Brass, Bronze
Egg Plum enamel with tripod Sterling Silver Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Egg Plum enamel is in 925/1000 sterling silver.
Egg Plum enamel has fired enamels on guilloché has fired enamels on guilloché and design engraved by hand.
Egg Plum enamel is Russian...
Category
1960s Italian Empire Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Luxury Watch Blue or Redwine Suitcase
Located in Paris, FR
Suitcase luxury watch blue covered with blue cowhide leather
sheathing, box with details and finishings in polished nickel-plated
brass. Upholstery and ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass, Nickel
20th Century Gabriella Crespi Decorative Box in Brass and Plexiglass '70s
Located in Turin, Turin
Born in 1922, Gabriella Crespi studies architecture at the Politecnico in Milan, where her work is permeated by her perspective on Le Corbusier’s and Frank Lloyd Wright’s design expe...
Category
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Antique English Sheffield Silver Footed Jewel Box, Circa 1890.
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique English Sheffield Silver-Plated Footed Jewel Box, Circa 1890.
Beautiful Chasing
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Sheffield Plate
Silver plated crab caviar box
Located in MILL, NL
Extraordinary silver-plated crab in the style of Franco Lapini. Originating from Spain, circa 1960.
Originally these crabs were meant to serve caviar. Now ideal to use as a jewelry ...
Category
1960s Spanish Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Silver
Coromandel Jewellery Cabinet Betjemann & Sons (attributed)
Located in Northampton, GB
Dome Topped with Three Drawers
From our Jewellery Boxes collection, we are pleased to offer this stunning dome-topped Coromandel Jewellery cabinet. The Cabinet of rectangular shape...
Category
Late 19th Century English High Victorian Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Egg Navy Blue enamel with tripod Sterling Silver Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Egg Navy Blue enamel is in 925/1000 sterling silver.
Egg Navy Blue enamel has fired enamels on guilloché has fired enamels on guilloché and design engraved by hand.
Egg Navy Blue en...
Category
1960s Italian Empire Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Vintage Brutalist Hand Worked Metal and Abalone Jewelry Box, 1994
Located in View Park, CA
An exquisite handmade vintage Jewelry box, signed, 1994. Pearly pink art glass, mirror, mauve gemstones, and hand worked metal comprise this...
Category
Late 20th Century American Brutalist Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Multi-gemstone, Metal
Gold Box, Early 19th Century, Restauration
Located in Paris, FR
Exceptional rectangular box or snuff box in four-tone gold. The hinged lid in fine relief has an astonishing composition: the central panel in Amati gold is decorated with symmetrica...
Category
1820s French Restauration Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Gold
Antique Silver Rococo Style Sugar Bowl, Decorative Objects Gold Gilding Inside
Located in Wembley, GB
Antique valuable silver box or Decorative sugar bowl with lid pressed, cast and chased, gold gilding on the inside. Oval, domed body on short, curved feet with hinged, vaulted lid. A...
Category
Late 19th Century German Rococo Revival Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Gold Plate, Silver, Sterling Silver
Fine Cherry Wood Art Deco Box Carl Auböck, 1930s
Located in Vienna, AT
Nice, well preserved Art Deco box made of cherry wood. By Carl Auböck, 1930s.
Listed as a scetch drawing in catalog "Die Kataloge der Werkstätte Carl Auböck 1925-1975" [The catalo...
Category
1930s Austrian Art Deco Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Copper
Tiffany & Co., Sterling Silver Ball/Sphere/Jewelry Box, Modern, Marked
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Very pretty sterling silver Tiffany & Co. jewelry ball, box, number 35378 Weighted, 7.
Category
1970s American Modern Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver
Military Campaign Walnut Brass Bound Double Watch Winder Box for Rolex, Omega
Located in Reading, Berkshire
Military Campaign Walnut Brass Bound Box With Fitted Velvet Interior
A bespoke watch winder box for the watch aficionado, hand finished & fitted with...
Category
19th Century English Campaign Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Box, Germany, Jugendstil, Art Nouveau, Liberty, 1890, WMF
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
Box
Style: Art Nouveau
year: 1890
Country: Germany
Materials: silver plated
Several of the WMF objects can be seen in museums
We have specialized in the sale of Art Deco and Art No...
Category
1890s German Art Nouveau Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Metal
Stunning Art Deco Bronze Jewelry Box by Sune Backstrom, Sweden, 1920s
Located in Malmö, SE
A large and beautiful hinged lid bronze box with amazing patina. Art deco / Swedish Grace. Could be used as a jewelry or pencil box. Original key. Interior upholstered in purple velv...
Category
1920s Swedish Art Deco Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Bronze
20th Century Gabriella Crespi Jewelry Box in Brass and Plexiglass '70s
Located in Turin, Turin
Decorative box designed in '70 by Gabriella Crespi. The box is in plexiglass and brass, on the brass is present the signature of the author.
Good condition, patina of time. Perfect ...
Category
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
20th Century Italian 800/1000 Silver Jewelry box
Located in VALENZA, IT
The jewelry box is shiny with a hinged opening and resembles a trunk. Bands made with the casting technique and decorated with floral motifs have been welded onto the body and lid of...
Category
1990s Italian Other Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Silver
Murano Barbini White Black Gold Flecks Spike Italian Art Glass Vanity Powder Box
Located in Kissimmee, FL
Beautiful vintage Murano hand blown white, dark purple / black and gold flecks Italian art glass vanity powder or jewelry box. Documented to designer Alfredo Barbini, circa 1950s. Th...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Gold Leaf
Aimara Small Brass Box
By AIREDELSUR
Located in Buenos Aires, AR
The waves on a choppy lake, rough by the wind, inspire the design of alpaca boxes and picture frames of this family, whose name comes from the tribe that dwelled in the North Argenti...
Category
2010s Argentine Organic Modern Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Jewelry box attributed to Maison Bague / Maria Pergay bamboo
Located in Lugo, IT
Jewelry box attributed to Maison Bague / Maria Pergay.
Good condition.
Thank you
Category
1960s French Modern Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Silver Plate
Italian Evening Silver Antique Handbag
Located in Alessandria, Piemonte
G/409 -
Antique, perfect, rare Italian evening handbag in silver mesh. What's better for a beautiful present ?
Category
Late 19th Century Italian Beaux Arts Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Silver
Art Deco Iconic 'Sunray' Box, England, Circa 1930
Located in Devon, England
For your consideration is this superbly iconic looking Art Deco wooden box which we think was a tea caddy or for cigarettes originally. The exterior of the box is veneered in a beaut...
Category
Mid-20th Century English Art Deco Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Brass painted Jewelry Box vienna around 1960s
Located in Wien, AT
Brass painted Jewelry Box vienna around 1960s
Original condition
Category
1960s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Dior Mid-Century Jewelry Box Tortoiseshell Effect Lucite and Chrome, Italy 1970s
By Dior Home
Located in Roma, IT
Delightful mid-century decorative jewelry box in tortoiseshell effect lucite and chrome. This fantastic piece was designed in Italy during the 1970s for a Dior Home Production.
This...
Category
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Metal, Chrome
18th Century Brass Mounted "Marriage" Dowry Box
Located in Middleburg, VA
Exquisite Indian craftsmanship made of teak with decorative brass on a patinated surface. The brass fittings are hand-beaten, showcasing the exceptional skill of the artisans who cre...
Category
18th Century Indian Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Brass
Edward F. Caldwell Neoclassical Style Silvered Bronze Box, Angels, Music Motifs
Located in New York, NY
Fine and unusual signed Edward F. Caldwell & Co. Neoclassical style silvered bronze box depicting a pair of winged angels playing music at an altar. One angel plays a lyre and the other an aulos or double flute, flanked by impressive torcheres bearing pine cones and surrounded by a wide border of olive leaves and olive fruit. The interior of cover decorated with a highly artistic pair of Bacchus masks flanking a grapevine garland, signed on upper right corner E. F. Caldwell & Co. Inc New York. The sides of the box further decorated with Bacchus masks and grapevine garlands of very fine quality Caldwell is known for.
Substantial size- excellent as a jewelry box or tabletop decorative box.
Very good condition commensurate with age. Base is lined with black velvet, very slight bend to upper left corner, silvered finish in good condition.
Edward F. Caldwell & Co was established in 1895 in New York City at 31 East 17th Street and quickly became one of the premier designers and manufacturers of fine lighting and decorative objects. Their commissions included J.P. Morgan's residence, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Vanderbilt Mansion, Henry Clay Frick residence, Harvard Club...
Category
Early 20th Century American Neoclassical Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Bronze
Art Deco Mirror Jewellry Box Italy
Located in Albano Laziale, Rome/Lazio
An Art Deco jewelry box in chromed metal and blue glass from the 1930's. It has a beautiful and striking design in silver, blue and grey. The inside features a mirror in the lid and ...
Category
1930s Italian Art Deco Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Metal
Antique Continental Silver Repousse Jewel Box, Circa 1875-1895.
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique continental silver repousse jewel box, circa 1875-1895.
Category
Late 19th Century European Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Silver
Antique Gilded Jewelry Box, Bronze Doré, Gilded Bronze, France, Bird in a Nest
Located in Greven, DE
Heavy, high quality bronze work gilded.
Depiction of a bird in a nest.
France, late 19th century.
Can be used wonderfully as a jewelry box.
.
Category
Late 19th Century French Late Victorian Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Gold, Bronze
Pocket Pill Box like Egg sea color Enamel Sterling Silver Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Pocket pill box shaped like a small egg.
Pocket pill box like egg hinged opening.
Pocket pill box like egg in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated 24ca...
Category
1960s Italian Empire Vintage Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Antique Victorian Jewelry Box French Opaline Glass Hand-Painted Art Nouveau
By Legras Montjoye, Legras & Cie
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
This antique Victorian opaline glass jewelry casket is a true testament to the opulence and elegance of the era.
The pièce de résistance is undoubtedly its exquisite floral enamel p...
Category
1880s French Victorian Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Enamel
Antique Grand Tour Micro Mosaic Jewelry Box by Cesare Roccheggiani, Rome c. 1875
By Cesare Roccheggiani
Located in London, GB
A highly attractive and rare floral Grand Tour micromosaic jewelry or trinket box made by Cesare Roccheggiani in Rome, Italy, c. 1875.
This is a beautifully detailed micro-mosaic box. The panel in the lid depicts a lush bouquet of spring flowers, including roses, forget-me-nots, daffodils, buttercups and crocus, amongst others. These are described in brightly coloured stone micromosaic inlaid into a black surround, lending the piece wonderful contrast.
The more common subjects for similar micro mosaic boxes are architectural views of Rome; floral examples such as this are much harder to find.
The panel is mounted in a box gilded in 24 carat gold. Another distinctive feature is the granulated finish around the lid and to the underside of the box: it is most unusual and lends the piece a lovely texture.
A hand-painted champlevé enamel frieze wraps around the central body of the gilt metal box, depicting scrolling turquoise vines blooming with red berries along with blue, green and yellow vine leaves.
The interior is lined in the original silk and in very good original condition. The maker’s name ‘C. ROCCHEGGIANI ROMA’ is emblazoned in gold to the interior of the lid beneath the motif of a cross surmounted by a crown. The lining of both the lid and body are bordered with a ropetwist detail. The lid closes with hooked clasp, and the hinge is in good condition.
Cesare Roccheggiani was one of the most successful mosaicists in the late 19th century in Rome. He probably worked in Michelangelo Barberi’s workshop, and was in all likelihood related to Lorenzo Roccheggiani, a late eighteenth-century master mosaicist at the Vatican whose work included the altarpiece, Crucifixion of St. Peter after Guido Reni, and Nicolo Roccheggiani who worked on the Achilles Shield tabletop commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte, and later gifted to Charles X of France, now in the collection of the Louvre.
Cesare Roccheggiani opened his premises on Via Condotti in Rome in 1874, and ran a production workshop including mosaicists, goldsmiths and other craftsmen. He was renowned as a source for fine quality Grand Tour mosaics...
Category
Mid-19th Century Italian Grand Tour Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Stone, Metal
16th-Century Indo-Portuguese Colonial Mother-of-pearl Gujarat Casket
Located in Amsterdam, NL
An exceptional Indo-Portuguese colonial mother-of-pearl veneered casket with silver mounts
India, Gujarat, 2nd half of the 16th century, the silver mounts Goa or probably Lisbon
Measures: H. 16 x W. 24.6 x D. 16.1 cm
An exceptional Gujarati casket with a rectangular box and truncated pyramidal lid (with slopes on each side and a flat top) made from exotic wood, probably teak (Tectona grandis), covered with a mother-of-pearl mosaic. The tesserae, cut from the shell of the green turban sea snail (Turbo marmoratus, a marine gastropod) in the shape of fish scales, are pinned to the wooden structure with silver ball-headed nails. The casket is set on bracket feet on the corners. The masterfully engraved decoration of the silver mounts follows the most refined and erudite Mannerist repertoire of rinceaux and ferroneries dating from the mid-16th century. The high quality and refinement of the silver mounts and, likewise, the silver nails that replaced the original brass pins used to hold the mother-of-pearl tesserae in place indicate the work of a silversmith probably working in Lisbon in the second half of the 16th century.
The Indian origin of this production, namely from Cambay (Khambhat) and Surat in the present state of Gujarat in north India, is, as for the last three decades, consensual and fully demonstrated, not only by documentary and literary evidence - such as descriptions, travelogues and contemporary archival documentation - but also by the survival in situ of 16th-century wooden structures covered in mother-of-pearl tesserae. A fine example is a canopy decorating the tomb (dargah) of the Sufi saint, Sheik Salim Chisti (1478-1572) in Fatehpur Sikri in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, north India. This is an artistic production, geometric in character and Islamic in nature, where usually the mother-of-pearl tesserae form complex designs of fish scales or, similar to the dishes also made using the same technique, with the thin brass sheets and pins, stylized lotus flowers. The truncated pyramidal shape corresponds, like their contemporary tortoiseshell counterparts also made in Gujarat, to a piece of furniture used in the Indian subcontinent within the Islamic world prior to the arrival of the first Portuguese. This shape, in fact, is very old and peculiar to East-Asian caskets, chests or boxes used to contain and protect Buddhist texts, the sutras.
A similar chest is the famous and large reliquary chest from Lisbon cathedral that once contained the relics of the city's patron saint, Saint Vincent. Both match in shape, having the same kind of socle or pedestal and bracket feet, and in their engraved silver mountings, featuring the same type of refined, erudite decoration. Their differences lie in the silver borders that frame the entire length of the edges of the chest (both the box and the lid), pinned with silver nails, and on the lock plate, shaped like a coat of arms in the Lisbon example. Given the exceptional dimensions of the reliquary casket...
Category
16th Century Indian Antique Metal Jewelry Boxes
Materials
Silver
