Castilian chest. Walnut wood, textile and wrought iron. 17th century. A rectangular chest with a flat lid and no legs, decorated with carved moldings along the top and bottom edges and the front, avoiding the front lock. The lock, made of metal and set on red fabric, features an openwork design of scrolls and other simplified shapes, a decoration also found on the chest's other fittings. Two metal pieces secure the lid to the sides of the front; the handles, typical of this type of chest, are also located on the sides, adorned with an openwork iron design on fabric, similar to the other elements. The interior features exposed wood, along with the corresponding fittings (hinges and locking mechanism), and a wooden-lined compartment on one side. The various openwork iron fittings follow a tradition already found on chests at the end of the 16th century (compare this example with the 15th-century Gothic chest in the Valladolid Museum, for instance), but with decorative motifs of Baroque influence: brackets, simplified scrolls, curves, etc. The rectangular shape of this chest, with a flat lid, is also typical of this type of furniture since the Gothic period, showing no characteristic 17th-century influence. It is important to highlight the significance of this style in Spanish furniture, as it persisted until the 19th century, especially in Andalusia, with only slight variations. The most notable change was the shift from openwork iron decorative elements, as in this example, to the use of gilded brass studs depicting coats of arms, vegetal motifs, and so on. The chest is typical of Castilian models, which are quite different from those of Catalonia, Valencia, and Mallorca. Although it was the most common piece of furniture at the time, not many examples have been preserved: compare with the two 17th-century chests in the Casa de Cervantes Museum (CE 202 without fittings, CE 145 with them) in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid).
· Size: 67x171x60 cms
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FURNITURE
