Slotted Lock Nut This striking object is a type of steel nut known as a slotted lock nut, or just slotted nut. Once a nut like this one is threaded onto a bolt a pin can be passed from one of the six slots on the nut, through a hole in the bolt shaft, to…
Metal Piping This object appears to be an amalgamation of two junk items, with welding at the join. The top section comprises a bent steel pipe with a tapering thread. The bottom section comprises a smaller steel object with faceted sides, creating an irregular hexagonal cross section. Hexagonal shapes were commonly used for metalworking handles,…
Steel Wire This is a section of steel wire, around 100mm long and 2mm in diameter. There are at least six more sections of steel wire visible on the sculpture’s surface, and most likely many more went into its construction. César’s welding electrodes were also made of steel wire, and some of the wire on…
Control Shaft and Metalwork Punch There are two interesting items in this section of the sculpture: a control shaft and a metalwork punch. The top-most object is a section of rolled steel bar, with bevelled end and circular indentation. Rolled steel refers to solid tubes or bars of steel, with a circular cross-section. The name…
Large Steel Bolt The lower section of the sculpture is built around a thick steel bolt which passes through several pieces of steel sheet. A bolt of this size could have had many heavy-duty applications in construction or industrial machinery. In the context of this sculpture the bolt is reminiscent of the central foundations of…
Ebony imported to Europe in the 1600s was often from Madagascar. The dark triangles in the pattern on the lid are made of ebony.
Traded ivory came from various locations in Africa.
A part of modern-day Germany, Augsburg is the likely centre of manufacture of this box.
Until after 1600, many foreign materials shipped into Europe came via Portugal.
Brazil was the primary source of rosewood in the 1600s. Rosewood makes up the star pattern on both the upper and lower inside lids of the box.
