Deux pommeaux d'ombrelles

Spain, Workshop of Placido Zuloaga, late 19th century Finely gold-damascened bronzed steel and mahogany wood, decorated with dragons and interlacing. Dim. 29.5 and 32.5 cm Bibliography El Damasquinado de Toledo, F. del Valle y Diaz, 1991. Two damascened gold inlaid steel sunshade handles, Zuloaga workshop, Spain, late 19th century Placido Zuloaga (1834-1910) was Spain's leading silversmith of the damascene technique in the second half of the 19th century. His workshop was in Eibar, a town in the Spanish Basque country. In 1997, London's Victoria Albert Museum exhibited a selection of forty works by this master from the Nasser Khalili collection in the Silver Galleries. Zuloaga's first official recognition came in 1855, when he exhibited a number of pieces, mainly arms and album covers, at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. From 1859, he concentrated on luxury items and became a favorite of Alfred Morrison, his most important patron. Zuloaga exhibited at the Philadelphia World's Fair in 1876.