{"product_id":"16th-century-antique-nuremberg-painted-iron-table-casket-strongbox-circa-1580","title":"16th Century Antique Nuremberg Painted Iron Table Casket, Strongbox, Circa 1580","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eA German (Nuremberg) Painted Iron Table Casket, Circa 1580\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eOf rectangular form, with a hinged lid and key, the body is bound with riveted strap-iron banding to the lid and sides. The front and end panels retain traces of the original polychrome decoration within shaped reserves, depicting figures in flowing drapery — one in ochre-orange, a further robed figure with gilt-yellow highlights — now worn to a dark oxidised ground consistent with four and a half centuries of handling. Fitted to one end with an iron ring handle for lifting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe lid opens to reveal an elaborate steel lock of pierced and scrolled foliate form, operated by the original ring-handled iron key which engages a multi-bolt mechanism to the interior of the lid — the hallmark achievement of the Nuremberg locksmith's trade, for which the city held a European-wide reputation throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Such caskets were made for the secure keeping of coin, documents, and valuables, their painted exteriors belying the sophistication of the ironwork concealed within.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProvenance: \u003c\/strong\u003eGermany. Nuremberg, circa 1580.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial: \u003c\/strong\u003eIron\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition: \u003c\/strong\u003eAn honest, well-aged surface throughout, the iron with an old dry russet patina and scattered pitting consistent with age; the painted decoration worn and fragmentary as illustrated; remnants of a later tape strip to the base edges, apparently a later addition rather than original; lock mechanism complete and in full working order. One carry handle at one end panel is missing. A rare and characterful survival of German Renaissance ironwork.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9 in wide x 4⅜in high x 4⅞in deep, including hinges (23 x 11 x 12.5cm).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Holt Antiques at Walsingham Mill ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55272229339478,"sku":"HAF7481","price":2250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0782\/7462\/5878\/files\/rn-image_picker_lib_temp_e237ed08-fdba-4da9-a4cd-bb1eeda44301.jpg?v=1788947175","url":"https:\/\/holtantiquefurniture.com\/products\/16th-century-antique-nuremberg-painted-iron-table-casket-strongbox-circa-1580","provider":"Holt Antiques at Walsingham Mill ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}