18th Century, Casket With Hunting Scenes

18th century

Casket with hunting scenes

Ebonized wood inlaid with pyrographed bone plaques, 25 x 43 x 21 cm

The work is accompanied by a CITES certificate

This refined casket, a marvelous example of cabinetmaking and decorative art, is a piece of extraordinary elegance and craftsmanship, originally intended for the safekeeping of valuables or confidential documents. The architectural structure of the object is defined by a rectangular body topped by a trunk-style lid with a characteristic truncated pyramid shape, which gives the whole a profile that is both slender and solid. The wooden surface has undergone a process of ebonization, a technique that, through the use of stains and dark finishes, gives ordinary wood the noble, deep, and lustrous appearance of precious ebony, creating a striking visual contrast with the light-colored inlays. The true ornamental centerpiece of the piece lies in the numerous bone plaques set along the sides, on the front, and on the lid, framed by thin decorative fillets that enhance their natural luster.

The decoration of these plaques was created using the pyrography technique on bone, a process requiring a steady hand and extreme precision, as the design is imprinted on the organic surface using red-hot metal tips or small heated burins that leave an indelible burnished mark. The engravings bring to life a vibrant cycle of hunting scenes, a theme dear to the aristocratic patrons of the time. In one of the central scenes, the figure of a hunter caught in the act of pursuit stands out, while on another plaque one can admire the noble figure of a falconer, with the bird of prey perched on his arm, a symbol of ritual and elite hunting. The rest of the iconography celebrates the dynamism of the wild world: massive running boars, agile hares darting through the undergrowth, and deer captured in the moment of frantic flight as they are pursued by fast and determined hounds