Castilian chest. Walnut wood, textile and wrought iron. 17th century. Rectangular chest with a flat lid and no legs, decorated with carved mouldings on the upper and lower edges of the piece of furniture and along the front, avoiding the lock on the front. This is made of metal, placed on red textile, and has an openwork composition based on scrolls and other simplified forms, a decoration that is also present in the rest of the chest's fittings. To the sides, on the front, there are two metal pieces to secure the lid closure; on the sides you can find the handles, common in this type of chest, also enhanced with an openwork iron composition on textile, similar to that of the rest of the elements. Inside there is exposed wood, together with the corresponding fittings (hinges and lock pieces), as well as a division towards one side by a section covered in wood. The various openwork fittings follow a tradition that is already found in chests at the end of the 16th century (compare this example with the 15th century Gothic chest in the Valladolid Museum, for example), but with decorative motifs of Baroque influence: braces, simplified scrolls, curves, etc. The shape of this chest, rectangular with a flat lid, is also the usual one in this type of furniture from the Gothic period, without any characteristic influence of the 17th century being appreciated in this sense. It is necessary to highlight the weight that this typology would have in Spanish furniture, as it would last until the 19th century, especially in Andalusia, with only slight changes, the most notable of which would be the change from decorative elements in openwork iron, as in this example, to using gilded brass studs drawing shields, plant themes, etc. The chest responds to what is usual in Castilian models, totally different from those of Catalonia, Valencia and Mallorca. Although it was the most common piece of furniture at the time, not many examples have survived: compare with the two 17th century chests in the Museo Casa de Cervantes (CE 202 without fittings, CE 145 with them) in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid).
· Size: 67x171x60 cms
ANTIQUES
FURNITURE
