Featured Cut Steel & Gold Damascene Brooch

Due to the preponderance of the general Toledo ware results getting in the way I'm struggling to turf up much info on this brooch. It has a cut steel body which has been blackened like clock hands rather than oxidised like most Toledo ware, the surface has an intentionally finely cross hatched diamond texture (you can kind of see it but the phone pics aren't the best). The gold back has been riveted through the steel for the join. The gold inlay especially the fine lines are much thicker than the 'paint like' gold on most Toledo ware. The frame/back are also in solid 9ct gold and it has a trombone clasp.

It looks early 20th or inter-war to me, but there are no marks and I'm struggling to find details on anything of this quality with the solid gold back. There are no marks of any form. Any useful tips on resources to try and find out about earlier pieces like this or thoughts on potential names? I think it probably is Spanish given the style but I'm drawing a blank. As always, many thanks for looking.

 

It does look like different work than the Toledo tradition of damascene. Perhaps it is an example of the type produced in Eibar, Spain, by the Zuloaga family and later artisans trained in their workshop. The fittings - round hinge and trombone clasp - would seem to date it in the 1930-1940s period (if these are original and not a later repair), which would be after the death of Placido Zuloaga. But the tradition continued in Eibar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascening
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plácido_Zuloaga

 

Many thanks, the style does seem inline with Zuloaga, so the maker was probably influenced by their work.

Pin seems original, it's very unlikely to be post 1935 (Spanish civil war and WWII) and most references start from around 1910 for this combination of hinge/trombone. Certainly could be inter-war which was my initial thought, although it seems odd the gold isn't marked for this period.

Unfortunately I can't find anything with a similar back to try and help with dating, and the style of the dragon etc points to the 3rd quarter of the 19thC which is too early for this piece.

 

It looks like an older Toledo piece to me, not Eibar. With those Art Deco flowers my guess is 1930s.
The back could have been imported, it looks German to me. German findings manufacturers exported worldwide. The trombone clasp was still used on quality pieces in the 1960s-70s, both in Germany and in Spain.

There is not one single Toledo style. Toledo workshops make different styles, and certainly did in the past, before mass tourism. There are more older 'un-Toledo' Toledo pieces out there.
Below is one of mine, 1920s, with a C-clasp. It has the archetypal Toledo griffin-like beast (just like yours) but some areas are raised. The wing even looks like it is about to fly off.

It is evening here, so no great quality but you can see some of the raised areas, unlike modern Toledo:



Note the wing:

 

I've not seen a back like that on Toledo damascene. I do agree with aj that the back might be an import.

 

Same here. That one's nicer than anything I've ever found here.

 

I think the standard Toledo back we see now was only introduced later. Maybe ca 1960? Before the standard backs it seems to have been a mixed bag.

As an example, the back on the one I posted above is different again, a very basic type with a pin attached to the steel back of the damascene. It once had gilding on the back of the steel plate, remains of which are still visible around the hinge and the clasp.
As you can see it has had a hard life. I've had to sand down thick blotches of rust and am still in the process of making it look more presentable.

I saw damascene makers at work in Toledo, and they always cross-hatched the steel so it would hold the gold and silver. If you simply hammer a gold sheet on steel, it won't hold, you need some texture. So yes, it is intentional, but it is the technique rather than the esthetic. Through a loupe it is also visible on my brooch, and on other Toledo pieces I have.
If a damascened steel piece isn't as blackened as usual, or there is loss of blackening, the cross hatching can become more shiny and visible through rubbing.

 

Try citric acid on a cotton bud/qtip

Many thanks for the extra detail, and yes I have quite a few post war Toledo pieces which are much more basic, the blackening looks more like a paste compared to this one. It doesn't seem to be rubbed as it is even all over with no signs of a thicker oxide coating.

I still haven't been able to turn up much more useful info, the open work gold back seems to be an anomaly, although it was clearly manufactured to fit the front (or vice-versa). This discussion is now referenced already and shows up when you search though which is quite amusing.

 

Thanks, I tried that first, it didn't do much, so I reached for the sand paper.

I have a bottle of 'rust converter', but that is like taking a sledgehammer to the brooch. Besides, you have to leave an item in the liquid for some time, which is impossible in this case.

They may have been experimenting with a different look. The maker was clearly not your average damascene maker, a bit more up market than many, and possibly more adventurous.

Google is watching us.

 

You could try putting some olive oil on the rust and letting it sit. Wipe off later. I'm not sure I'd try it on the front, but it works on cast iron pots.