LATE 17TH CENTURY

Details

A SPANISH BRASS-MOUNTED EBONY, TORTOISESHELL AND IVORY ARCHITECTURAL CABINET
LATE 17TH CENTURY
Inlaid overall with brickwork and geometric designs, the drawer and door panels depicting animals, Europeans and Moors at various pursuits, of breakfront form surmounted by a pinnacled cresting with brass finials and repoussé and cast pierced fretwork gallery above a deep drawer depicting a knight, with concealed drawers, above three frieze drawers and a central architectural door depicting Diana and Acteon with cluster columns, enclosing a removable perspective mirrored interior with six drawers and six further concealed drawers, the door flanked by five drawers to either side, on plinth base and later claw-and-ball feet, the sides with later handles, the feet probably 19th century
54 in. (137 cm.) high; 48 in. (122 cm.) wide; 17½ in. (45 cm.) deep

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis. Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

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Sebastian Goetz

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Lot Essay

Spanish cabinets of the papeleira and escritorio types executed in the 17th Century, which had developed from the 16th Century fall-front varguenos were very representative of the mudejar or Hispano-Moresque style. Varguenos were typically decorated with an architectural façade fitted with small ivory plaques and often embellished with bronze mounts while the Papeleiras, a later and more ostentatious adaptation of the vargueno, were fitted with neither a fall-front nor doors, and were often surmounted by a gilt-bronze gallery.
This striking cabinet is related to a tortoiseshell and bone-inlaid papeleira in the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Madrid (ill. M. Alonso, El Mueble en España, Siglos XVI-XVII, Madrid, 1993, p. 306).

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