CABINET. TORTOISESHELL, BRONZE, WOOD, IRON. ITALY, 17TH CENTURY; TABLE OF POSTERIOR DATE..
Antiques -
Reference: ZE365
Bargueño. Carey, bronze, wood, iron. Italy, 17th century; back table. An open-faced desk made of wood and finished in tortoiseshell, which has a division into three areas at the front. The side areas have four drawers each (each with two tortoiseshell-shaped slots highlighted with a metal band flanking each lock shield), gilded details with plant elements and Solomonic columns at the outer ends on a base and finished off with curved and straight architectural elements. The central part, called the chapel, is presented forward and has a prominent architectural composition with Solomonic columns and elements in gilded bronze. The piece of furniture is finished off with an openwork band under architectural elements and is situated on legs holding spheres. The buffet or bargueñera table that supports and highlights it, of a later date, has turned legs joined by a chambrana and two wrought iron fasteners. The general layout of the piece of furniture follows models that were known and used in cabinetmaking throughout Europe throughout the 17th century, of which the best examples are considered to be of Italian origin, like the present one. Thus, its decorative elements belong to the same tradition: the legs carved in the shape of a bird's claw synthesized on a ball are very typical of the period; the sides are flatter and simpler (geometric marquetry); etc. However, the present example stands out from the usual in its contemporaries due to the architectural elements of the front and the ribbed pieces of the drawers already mentioned and which are totally different from what can be found in the wastepaper baskets of this type linked to Antwerp. Compare the present example with the one preserved in the Museo Nacional de Cerámica y Artes Sumptuarias González Martí (Valencia) which does not have the elements of the drawers already mentioned.
· Size: Bargueño 146x50x100 cms Mesa 153x52x85 cms.
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