Angel Paperknife
Angel Paperknife
19th century carved boxwood paperknife by Michelangelo Caetani for Castellani Workshops. Rome, Italy. c 1863. Thought to be carved by Caetani himself, this unique piece is in the style of an enrobed, winged Angel with hands clasped at the chest and standing upon an orb.
26.5 cm.
In 1926 famed Italian, goldsmith Fortunato Pio Castellani(1794-1865) met artist and polymath Michelangelo Caetani, Duke of Sermoneta and Prince of Teano(1804-1882) and invited him to design for the workshop in Rome. Caetani inspired Castellani to create pieces based on ancient jewelry in the archaeological excavations of the time.
What developed over the next 30 years was not only a successful business partnership but a prolific creative endeavor that would change jewelry history. Alongside the popular Revival jewelry, sold in the shop were fantastic creations by Caetani, including paper, knives of wood(thought to be carved by himself), ivory, silver and bronze, resembling winged angels and devils. There were even more fanciful versions in gold and enamel, set with precious gemstones. As a scholar of Dante Alighieri and the Divine Comedy, Caetani‘s paper knives seem to recall the poetic demons, Minos and Malaconda in the circles of the Inferno.