Figural Casket, Signed E. Laurent, Tavern Scene Relief, Gold-Painted Cast Metal

A cast-metal figural casket, the hinged lid worked in high relief with a crowded genre scene of figures in period dress in a tavern or market interior, the relief signed E. Laurent within the composition. The sides carry panels of interlace and scrolling foliage on a finely worked ground, and the interior retains a striped silk lining in rose, gold, and olive. The gold surface appears to be applied paint rather than gilding, with a grayish base metal visible at worn edges, and is likely a later refinish; the base alloy is undetermined. The signature E. Laurent is cast in the relief, but the identity and standing of that hand are not established, and the piece is unmarked as to foundry or country.