A HISPANO-MORESQUE MUDEJAR AND BONE-INLAID WALNUT CHEST B...

Estimate

£8,000 - £10,000

A HISPANO-MORESQUE MUDEJAR AND BONE-INLAID WALNUT CHEST
BARCELONA, POST-NASRID SPAIN, 16TH - 17TH CENTURY Resting on rectangular wooden lintels, a rectangular configuration enveloped in an exquisite ensemble of bone marquetry work, known as “taracea”, decorating both the exterior and interior of the lid, exterior adorned with a design featuring a central roundel of substantial proportions, flanked by four smaller roundels, all with geometric and stellar patterns, the sides featuring panels with a diverse array of designs, including chequered boards filled with stars, hexagonal star medallions interwoven within intricate meanders, and five strapwork roundels, fretwork friezes inlaid with bone and coloured wood creating a captivating two-tone effect, the interior bearing very similar design with more intricate detailing, boasting diamond-shaped infinite knot medallions and a prominent, sun-like crown with lobed petals encircling the central roundel with a chequered ground, the inner walls elegantly lined with well-worn red velvet
the interior of the lid mirroring the exterior but more ornate, featuring diamond-shaped infinite knot medallions and a very large sun-like crown with lobed petals surrounding the central roundel with chequered ground, the inner walls lined in worn red velvet, 23cm x 50cm x 29cm.
A larger bone-inlaid walnut chest attributed to the work of carpenters from 16th-century Barcelona can be seen for comparison in the publication Caliphs and Kings: the art and influence of Islamic Spain - selections from the Hispanic Society of America, New York, 2004, cat. 86, p. 108. The decoration on the sides matches in style and variety of the present lot, suggesting a similar site of manufacture and dating. The ubiquitous presence of stellar patterns draws comparisons with ivory and bone-inlaid pieces of furniture produced in Granada and the Southern Provinces of Spain. However, in Andalusia, the main motif in marquetry works like this would have been the eight-pointed star (taraceagranadina), which entered the architectural repertoire of Nasrid buildings like the Mezquita and MadinaAzahara from pre-Islamic mosaics (Maria Paz Aguilo Alonso, El Muebleen Espana: Siglos XVI - XVII, 1993, p. 164). In our chest, only the frontal panel showcases a gridwork of eight-pointed stars; all the rest of the decoration is dominated by six and twelve-pointed stars and starbursts, indicating perhaps a local reinterpretation of the Grenadine design.