Codie Lyons
Associate Specialist
Property of Various Owners
Lot 261
AN INDO-PORTUGESE CARVED TEAK, EBONY, AND BONE MARQUETRY CHEST ON CHESTGoa, 17th century
16 November 2021, 10:00 PST
Los AngelesSold for US$31,562.50 inc. premium
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AN INDO-PORTUGESE CARVED TEAK, EBONY, AND BONE MARQUETRY CHEST ON CHEST
Goa, 17th century
height 54 3/4in (139cm); width 34 1/2in (88cm); depth 19 3/4in (50cm)
height 54 3/4in (139cm); width 34 1/2in (88cm); depth 19 3/4in (50cm)
Footnotes
This cabinet exemplifies the exotic furniture manufactured by Indian and Goanese ports for Portuguese traders in the 17th century. The rectangular paneled top is inlaid with scrolling leaves and grotesque masks. Metal clasps pierce the corners above eight short and two deep drawers, above a further pair of two drawers and one long drawer. Nāginis, Hindu semi-divine half-human half-serpent figures, hold stand atop the feet supporting the chest.
Other examples sold at Bonhams, London, 5 April 2000, Fine English and Continental Furniture, lot 24, Phillips, London, Fine English and Continental Furniture, 21 June 1994, lot 82, Christie's, London Fine Continental Furniture, 18 June 1976, lot 195, 27 March 1986, lot 109, 8 December 1988, lot 141, 29 November 1990, lot 265, 6 June 1991, lot 298 and 9 December 1993, lot 298. See also Christie's, 27 May 1987, The property of the late Major Eustace Robb, Great Tew Park, Oxfordshire, lot 88.
Literature
Feduchi, Luis M. A History of World Furniture, Blume, Barcelona, 1977, p. 446, for a similar cabinet in the Museuo Nacional, Lisbon.
Jaffer, Amin. Luxury Goods from India: The Art of the Cabinet-Maker, V & A Publications, London, 2002, pp. 58–59. no. 22, for a cabinet of similar form in the Victoria & Albert Museum.
