art-of-swords:Exhibition Sword and ScabbardDated: circa 1850-5 (made in the 16th century style)Maker
art-of-swords:Exhibition Sword and ScabbardDated: circa 1850-5 (made in the 16th century style)Maker: Eusebio Zuloaga (chiselled, repousse and damascened)Culture: SpanishMeasurements: overall length 40¾ inches (103.5cm blade length 32¾ inches (83.4cm)The treatment of the chiselled and repousée parts of the sword scabbard presents us with an unusually imaginative rendition of scrollwork, the presence of which possibly indicates an early collaboration between Eusebio and his son Plácido.The tightly packed interlace of curves deliberately leaves no flat space between the differing heights of their contours and results in a truly sculpted and almost three-dimensional surface.This quality has been accentuated by the addition of gold wire inlaid along the central course of the higher scrolls, this giving additional prominence to the texture of the surface, from which the figures in their cartouches are projected towards our attention.This distinctive technique appears to be a development by the Zuloaga workshops of the decorative embossing of iron perfected by Filippo Negroli of Milan in the mid-16th century. Sidenotes:Eusebio Zuloaga (1808–98) began his career as a gun-maker, first apprenticed from 1822–7 to his uncle Ramón in Placencia near Eibar, then working for the celebrated LePage family in Paris and at the royal arms factory in St Etienne until his return to Madrid in 1833.He also studied the decorative treatments of metal at the arms factories in Liège, returning to Spain in 1839–40 to establish his own gun-making factory in Eibar in 1841.Zuloaga’s reputation grew in stature throughout the 1840s, with his first royal appointment in 1844 and a silver medal awarded at the Exhibition of Spanish Industry in Madrid in the following year.Within this period Zuloaga assisted Martinez del Romero in his reorganisation of the Real Armería in Madrid, following years of neglect and damage, which led to the completion of the landmark catalogue published in 1849.Zuloaga expanded his role in the armoury to that of restorer of a number of important damascened armours and evidently took this opportunity to expand his knowledge of the historical treatment of metalwork, in particular the ancient Iberian tradition of damascening.Zuloaga’s first royal commission was in fact for a sword, with enamelled and gilt hilt, which he completed sometime between 1846–9, probably in his new factory in Madrid.The piece in question was a copy of the sword of King François I of France, which he had surrendered to the Emperor Charles V at Pavia in 1525; Zuloaga’s copy is preserved in the Real Armería, Madrid (no. m.4).Source: Copyright © 2016 Peter Finer -- source link
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