Antonio Cortelazzo Damascened Jewelry Casket from Great London Exposition of 1872
$59,500.00
Our client's gold damascened Renaissance Revival table casket or jewelry chest by Antonio Cortelazzo (Italian, 1819-1903), is marked Vicenza and dated 1870. 8.25 x 8.25 x 6 in; 21 x 21 x 15 cm.
It features a pair of adorsed dragons supporting the arms of Sir William Drake, repoussé trophies and gold-ground scrollwork and is raised on scroll and mask feet. The lid is signed CORTELAZZO VICENZA FECIT 1870.
Exhibition:
• International Exhibition of 1872, London.
Provenance:
• The Collection of Sir William Richard Drake, F.S.A., The Property of Sir William Drake F.S.A., Christie's, London, June 30 - July 3, 1891, lot 602, 33 GBP.
• The Collection of M.F. Adie Esq, purchased circa 1950 from H.W. Keil Ltd, Broadway Worcs.,
Literature:
• The Official Catalogue, Fine Arts Department London, International Exhibition of 1872, London, J.M. Johnson & Sons (Victoria and Albert Museum reference A23 (21), p. 93 no. 2712.
• The Art Journal, London, 1872, p.2.
• Nineteenth Century Silver, J. Culme, London, 1977, p. 17.
• 'The Layards, Cortelazzo and Castellani: new information from the diaries of Lady Layard', Jewellery Studies I, J. Rudoe, 1983. p. 86.
• 'A Renaissance-Revival Masterpiece by Antonio Cortelazz'o, B. Shifman, Cleveland Studies in the History of Art, vol. 8, p.103, fig. 17.
A related casket almost certainly made for Sir William Spottiswoode (1825-83) is illustrated in J. Lavin, The Art and Tradition of the Zuloagas, Spanish Damascene from the Khalili Collection, 1997, no. 100.
