SPAIN, 16TH OR 17TH CENTURY

This cabinet displays a wonderful variety of inlaid geometric designs constructed around the ‘petalled star’ motif, which is typical of sixteenth century decoration (for a greater discussion on this motif and sixteenth century Spanish inlaid furniture please see the note for lot 47). At the top of the legs of the cabinet stand are two plaques mimicking the Nasrid coat of arms, although the diagonally running Arabic has been misunderstood. Muslim craftsmen worked under Christian patrons following the Reconquista giving rise to the ‘Mudéjar’ until the end of the sixteenth century. However, the faux Arabic on our cabinet suggests the work of a non-Muslim craftsman with no familiarity with Arabic which would suggest a late sixteenth or seventeenth century dating. The playful decoration on the present lot is comparable to a seventeenth century escritorio in a private collection in Madrid (Maria Paz Aguilo Alonso, El Mueble en Espana Siglos XVI-XVII, Madrid, 1993, no.201, p.280). This decorative repertoire and the leafy designs finely carved in high relief are seen on a sixteenth/seventeenth century Hispano-Moresque vargueno which was sold in these Rooms, 10 April 2014, lot 54.