Well well! what on earth is this, 24" long, the centre piece...

Estimate

£100 - £1,000

Well well! what on earth is this, 24" long, the centre piece of this iron construction encloses what appears to be a white stone guarded by two realistically designed snakes, some rough welds does little to detract for the curious. A bacon and egg butty at the next auction for the first to provide a plausible answer G.

One reply.
Some of the details of the forging are very symbolic of components in what are colloquially called 'Spanish Bullion Chests' - these were usually made in what would now be called Southern Germany. The serpent has a groove behind its head where a collar would hold it within a lock and at the other end of the fitting after the welding, is a cam frame which sits around the body of the lock. On the chest at Knole, this cam box allows two of the levers not to release when you turn the key unless you turn the key in the opposite direction to set them first. The forged flower is very Moorish in construction, another reason they are often called Spanish