A Rare South German Miniature Casket (Mankästche)
Early 17th Century, From the Workshop Of Michel Or Conradt Mann Of Augsburg And Nuremberg
Of gilt copper and brass, the front and back finely engraved with male and female portrait busts in early 17th-century costume within arches, the sides each with a putto, the bottom with a pair of rosettes, and the flat top with a male and female standing figure en suite with the busts on the front and back, engraved gilt strips, some of them pierced, mainly retained by small iron screws, the central pivoting strip on the lid made to conceal the key-hole, characteristic blued iron lock shooting four bolts and with filed decoration, four small gilt bun-shaped feet, bow-shaped drop handle of brass with baluster mouldings, and iron key, probably the original, the interior lined with green velvet (2)
10 cm. wide
