SPAINISH CABINET "VARGUENO". SALAMANCA. 17TH CENTURY.

Salamanca-type bargueño with locker, 17th century. Walnut wood and bone decorations. Wrought iron fittings. The rectangular cupboard rests on four round legs, and has four drawers with diamond decoration that close with a key and show hardware and a horseshoe shield. The desk, with a folding front lid, has metal hooks (to hold the table without having to lock it) and numerous decorative plates, as well as a magnificent closure decorated with two rampant lions and stars. When opening the lid, which rests on two wooden locks decorated with lion heads, the drawers and doors are revealed, decorated with networks of squares and architectural elements and columns. It responds to the type called “Salmantine writing desk”, which is the most representative of the Spanish Baroque. It was developed, above all, throughout the 17th century, and its use and manufacture continued at least until the first quarter of the 18th century. Because, due to lack of documentation, the workshops responsible for this furniture are unknown and it is unknown whether they would only be made in Salamanca or also created in other places, experts have proposed their name as “column desks” because this is a decorative element. the most characteristic in the preserved examples. Another common feature in 17th century Spanish desks is the decorative and functional hardware that this piece displays. The high quality of his work stands out and, above all, the partially gilded palastro with lions and stars, shells and architectural elements that have already been mentioned. In all cases, and as usually happens in this typology, all the metal elements have been highlighted with a fabric background cut into polygonal shapes. The locker was a common fastening element in these desks, allowing for expanded storage space for important documents and other valuable property within locked drawers and doors. Also known as “closed foot”, some examples are known from the first half of the 16th century, a time since which it was not stopped being manufactured. In the present case, its decoration based on rhombuses is the most common in examples from the 17th century and, because it matches the desk, it adds value to the work.

· Size: 112x50x153 cms.