A Nasrid-revival dagger, signed by V. Arana, Spain, Eibar, 1885

During the nineteenth century people became fascinated with illustrated accounts of the discovery of a multitude of objects from earlier Spanish civilisations such as the Nasrid dynasty. As a result artists and artisans were greatly inspired by the decorative vocabulary of Islamic Spain. This intricately pierced and damascened dagger is an example of the work produced by Placido Zuloaga and his followers at Eibar in Spain. 

Plácido Zuloaga was born in Madrid in 1834. His father Eusebio, also born in Madrid, was of Basque descent. The Zuloagas were an Eibar family, and Eibar in the Basque country had been a gunmaking centre since the fifteenth century. Eusebio, who trained as a gunmaker, while employed as Armourer of the Royal Armoury officially referred to Eibar (Guipúzcoa) as his home (patria). It was there that between 1846 and 1847 Eusebio established his 'factory' (fábrica) and in 1861 he bought a house in Eibar in which would serve as Plácido's home, workshop and museum, and it would become the birthplace of the damascene industry in Spain. 

The damascening on this dagger is very similar to that found on a sword hilt from the school of Placido Zuloaga circa 1880-90 (see Lavin 1997, p.126, no.34). The stylisation of the fleshy foliate openwork scrolls and vegetal grotesques relate to the decoration seen on a writing desk circa 1885 signed by Placido Zuloaga (ibid, p.108, no.18) and the famous iron casonne made for Alfred Morrison signed and dated Placido Zuloaga 1870-71 (ibid, pp.71-79, no.1).