Fur, feathers and silver
A surface full of character.
A squirrel’s coat offers a different way to look at silver. In Buccellati’s Furry collection, fine strands of metal give an animal its texture as well as its outline. The resulting surface asks for close looking: follow the direction of the fur, the shape of an ear and the contrast between a smooth face and a bristling body.
Mario Buccellati founded the house in Milan in 1919. Its own history describes a creative lineage from Mario through Gianmaria to Andrea, drawing on Italian artistic traditions, including the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Jewelry, tableware and small sculpture belong to the same wider practice of working precious-metal surfaces by hand.
The house credits Gianmaria with the Furry technique and dates it to the 1960s. Its exhibition account describes silver sheet cut with special scissors into fine strips, then joined to form an animal’s body. Filaments of different lengths and thicknesses suggest fur or feathers. That account is more specific than calling the surface engraved, and it does not establish that every model is solid throughout.
From the museum collection
Follow one squirrel, not a generic animal.
A current catalog reference gives you a model to research. It is a comparison point, not authentication of an offered secondhand piece.
Keep the reference with the measurement
Buccellati’s Furry Squirrel, reference SAGDEC010582, is described as sterling silver of 925/1000 fineness. The product page lists a dimension of 13.3 cm without saying which axis it measures. Preserve that qualification, or measure height, width and depth separately on the object in hand.
A model name, a fineness statement and a measurement answer different questions. Keep the exact reference number beside photographs and a transcription of the marks. Ask about construction, repairs and any replaced details before treating the complete object’s weight as a silver measurement.
A menagerie in a museum
The animals also have an exhibition history. Buccellati records A Silver Menagerie at the Huntsville Museum of Art in Alabama in 2006, featuring the collection donated by Betty Grisham. It offers a route into studying these figures as sculpture, alongside the house’s jewelry and table silver.
Names & chapters
How the story developed.
- 1919
A Milan beginning
Mario Buccellati establishes the house in Milan.
- 1960s
Silver takes on fur and feathers
The house dates Gianmaria’s Furry technique to this decade.
- 2006
A Silver Menagerie
Buccellati’s chronology records the Huntsville exhibition of Betty Grisham’s collection.
- 2019
The Richemont chapter
Richemont completed its acquisition on September 26. This is a corporate milestone, not a dating method for an individual figure.
Follow an interest
What to explore.
A source-based introduction to the house and its silver animals. No product photograph is reproduced, and no current stock, price or resale outcome is promised.
Check the details
Before you buy.
Begin with the particular object: its documented model, material, dimensions, condition and attribution.
Open the references
Research this name.
- Collect Silver guide
Explore animal miniatures
Compare subjects, silhouettes and documented maker-led examples.
- Collect Silver guide
Separate material from construction
Keep fineness, internal construction and non-silver supports distinct.
- Collect Silver resource
Document the individual object
Keep photographs and attribution evidence together.
Sources & further reading
- About Buccellati Buccellati · House history and creative lineage
- The Prince of Goldsmiths: Wonders of the Earth Buccellati · Manufacturer explanation of the Furry technique and Gianmaria’s role
- Maison history Buccellati · Company chronology, including A Silver Menagerie in 2006
- Furry Squirrel, reference SAGDEC010582 Buccellati · Dated catalog example; 925/1000 and an unlabeled 13.3 cm dimension
- Richemont acquires Buccellati Richemont · Acquisition completed September 26, 2019
- Care advice Buccellati · Manufacturer distinguishes ordinary and intentionally oxidized silver
Company sources provide the house history, manufacturing account and dated catalog example. Richemont documents its acquisition. Sources checked November 11, 2026. No physical object was examined for this profile.