Engraved Iron Casket, Sauvageot Collection, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in iron gray and black, lettered "A. COFFRET en fer gravé (XVIe SIÈCLE.) tiré de la collection de Mr Sauvageot, à Paris. Grandeur de l'original: long. 16 cent. larg. 8 cent. 1/2. haut. 9 cent. B. Plaque de dessous du même Coffret." At the top, lettered A, the casket stands with its lid raised, a rectangular box on ball feet whose lid, front and side are covered in engraved interlaced strapwork filled with fine spiral scrolls, with a pierced hasp at the center of the lid. Below, lettered B, the plate from the underside of the same casket is drawn flat, with a ball foot at each corner and the same strapwork pattern around a central panel.

The running head reads "LE MOYEN-AGE ET LA RENAISSANCE." and "FERRONNERIE PL. VII." (ironwork, plate 7). The credits are "H. Soltau del.", "Chromolith. Engelmann et Graf" and "Kellerhoven lith.", with "F. Séré direxit" at the foot. In English the caption reads: A. Casket in engraved iron (sixteenth century) from the collection of Mr. Sauvageot, Paris. Size of the original: length 16 cm, width 8.5 cm, height 9 cm. B. Underside plate of the same casket.

Paul Lacroix, known also by his pen name the Bibliophile Jacob, edited Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance with Ferdinand Séré as director of the plates. The five volumes appeared in Paris between 1848 and 1851 and cover the customs, crafts, sciences and arts of medieval and Renaissance Europe, each chapter illustrated after objects then held in public and private collections. The present plate comes from the fourth volume of 1851.

With its lettering intact, the plate suits a plain mat and a simple frame, and it hangs well beside other plates from the same chapter.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.