Anonymous 17th century Asturian
Three-bodied bargueño. Asturias (Spain) 17th century

Three-bodied bargueño. Asturias (Spain) 17th century

Walnut and wrought iron three-bodied bargueño. Asturias, Spain, 17th century.

The lower part is a two-door chest with carved decoration, the central part is a desk with a hinged lid and a two-door cupboard above. On the exterior, the lower part alternates rhomboidal geometric motifs on the sides and tabs in the centre, rectangular elements above and below and vegetal elements; the doors show mouldings around rectangles resembling pictures and frames; the upper part, in addition to the carved details mentioned above, has its doors and two openwork sides with balusters. The whole is surmounted by a split pediment decorated with drops like those used under triglyphs in classical art. The lower doors are secured by fastenings and have teardrop-shaped handles. The desk has a handle and key lock with the horseshoe-shaped coat-of-arms highlighted and decorated with an openwork metal plate with S-shaped braces flanking a central coat-of-arms, surmounted by a simplified floral detail; inside, the drawers are divided into an upper and lower band with four each and a central area of two drawers on either side of an open central chapel with a rounded arch, and the fronts are all decorated with marquetry of simple geometric lines. The doors of the

The doors of the alcove are key-locked.  The carved decoration already appears on the fronts of the 16th-century bargueños and taquillones, and the inclusion of details used in architectural entablatures of that style belong to Renaissance influence. However, the vertical proportions of the furniture can be seen in those known as "Carlos V", which appear around the second third of the century. The Spanish taste for carved panels and mouldings is clearly visible in this example, and the marquetry of the interior of the desk resembles that of others of Asturian manufacture.

Balusters and details of movement show that they belong to the Baroque period. Also known as "bargueño cupboards", this type of furniture did not belong to strictly domestic furnishings, but was used in public places or rooms in important residences where it could be seen. Because of this value, examples such as the present one were not very common, but some very similar examples have been preserved in important private collections. Compare it with a very similar example in the Museo Etnográfico Provincial de León in Mansilla de las Mulas, but it can also be related to others such as the cupboard in the Casa Museo Lope de Vega in Madrid (inventory CE00234) from around the end of the 17th century, or the cupboard in the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas in Madrid (CE02504).

Measurements: 105 x 46 x 215 cm.