A Massive Iron Casket Inset with Brass Fretwork Panels, c. 1740

• Austria
• Iron, brass, gold and paint
• Height with closed lid without the key 61 cm / 24 in, Height with closed lid with the key in the lock 70 cm / 27.5 in, Height with lid up 117 cm / 46 in, Width 90 cm / 35.5 in, Inset deep 58 cm / 22 ¾ in

Provenance:

Private collection, USA

Call it massive or gargantuan, this casket makes a statement of profound solidity and is easily pictured in the mind’s eye within its original setting in a nobleman’s castle or rococo palais. The pairs of deers’ fetlocks which form its feet immediately recall the very similar embellishments popular of the hilts of hunting swords during the mid-18^th century, while the fretwork panels recall fashion in both Austrian and Italian luxury furniture of the same period. The magnificent decorated plate of burnished steel which encloses the lock mechanism (itself a consummate work of hand-crafted engineering) is perhaps evolved from a much earlier early medieval design; broadly related scroll-work arrangements in the medieval taste, and involving a symbolic palm supported by exotic birds or mythical beasts exist as carved ivory plaques as early as the 12^th century. 

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