Modeled as a young seal at rest, its head raised and flippers outstretched, this figure is the work of Mario Buccellati, the Milanese silversmith whose naturalistic animals rank among the most admired achievements of twentieth-century Italian silver. The coat is worked in a finely chased, matte surface that became the house's signature, a texture imitating fur, set against the brighter polish of the flippers and the dark, glassy eyes. Dating from the 1950s, it belongs to the celebrated menagerie of birds, animals, and sea creatures produced under the Buccellati name, pieces conceived as much as sculpture as silver.
Modeled as a young seal at rest, its head raised and flippers outstretched, this figure is the work of Mario Buccellati, the Milanese silversmith whose naturalistic animals rank among the most admired achievements of twentieth-century Italian silver. The coat is worked in a finely chased, matte surface that became the house's signature, a texture imitating fur, set against the brighter polish of the flippers and the dark, glassy eyes. Dating from the 1950s, it belongs to the celebrated menagerie of birds, animals, and sea creatures produced under the Buccellati name, pieces conceived as much as sculpture as silver.
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