A SPANISH GOLD AND SILVER DAMASCENED LATHE-TURNED FORGED IRON PERFUME-BURNER

Another example of this vase, possibly its pair, is in the Khalili Collection and is illustrated in J. D. Lavin, The Art and Tradition of the Zuloagas - Spanish Damascene from the Khalili Collection, Bath, 1997, p. 92.
Born into a family of Spanish Royal Armourers, Plácido Zuloaga (d. 1910) went on to become one of the greatest masters of the decorative art of damascening, praised in his day as 'a second Benvenuto Cellini'. His first recognition as an artist came in 1855 when, together with his father Eusebio, he inspired the following comments for work shown at the Paris Exposition Universelle: 'One cannot praise too highly the arms and other metal objects presented by the Sres. Zuloaga, father and son; [...] iron-chiselling, damascene, etching and repoussé never had interpreters of such obvious and varied talent' (Anon. Visite à l'Exposition Universelle de Paris, Paris, 1855, p. 121).