11081 – A WHITE LACQUER DRESSING TABLE OPENING TO REVEAL PAINTED INTERIOR

11081 A WHITE LACQUER DRESSING TABLE OPENING TO REVEAL RELIEF GILDED FAUX GUADEMICÍ AND POLYCHROME PAINTED INTERIOR Probably Spanish Colonial, Possibly Pátzcuaro Mexico. Circa 1760. Measurements: Height: 30 1/4″ (76.8 cm) Width: 32 3/4″ (83.2 cm) Depth Open: 32 3/4″ (83.2 cm) Depth Closed: 17 1/2″ (44.4 cm)



Research
Of lacquered wood and raised composition work with gilt-brass. The table when closed is raised on four cabriole legs with gilded grotesque masks to the knees. The outer top with incised rococo decoration surrounding a painted brown field, possibly to simulate leather. The rear gate leg swings open to support a top that is decorated with a continuous rocaille “frame” enclosing numerous vignettes of classical and indigenous character. A further flap opens to reveal a well set with drawers all decorated in Chinese-inspired lacquer with subjects such as prunus blossom, monkies and dragons. The reverse side of the flap is centered by an arched d-molded mirror and is flanked by vignettes of classical subjects on a feminine theme surrounded by raised embossed rococo “frames” all on a red opaque ground.

Marks:
Bears old painted inventory number:
50.367

Provenance:
Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb

This polychrome and gilt decorated lady’s folding dressing table is a rare and charming example of the type of furniture produced for society’s upper classes in eighteenth-century Viceregal Latin America. “For the Spanish colonial elite, decorating the home in the latest European styles functioned as a means of social ascent to the upper echelons of community”1 and there was no limit to the acquisition and display of luxury goods.

With the Bourbon dynasty’s rise to power in Spain, social reforms and promotion of enlightenment ideas ultimately had an impact on the arts both at home and abroad. In the Spanish colonies “one sign of this [was] the proliferation of Rococo architecture, retables, furniture, objects for personal use and so forth.”2 Additionally, as a result of peace treaties, New Spain was opened to trade with French, Dutch, and especially English traders who sent a considerable quantity of furniture to the colony.

The Spanish colonies also enjoyed a prime geographic location at the center of the trade route between the Iberian peninsula and Asia. Not only did they benefit from a flow of European imports, but they received goods traveling on Spanish galleons from Manila to Acapulco. Like they had in Europe and North America, these Far Eastern imports had a strong influence on local artistic production, and soon imitations of Chinese and Japanese products such as lacquer, porcelain, and folding screens emerged. In many instances the craftsmen had first hand experience with Asian commodities even before their European counterparts. “If anything characterized interior design in New Spain, it was a hodgepodge of cultures represented, with imported goods from [abroad]…alongside items manufactured by indigenous groups within the territory.”3 A distinctive feature and a staple in colonial Spanish furnishings from the eighteenth century onward is the cabriole leg, adopted from the Queen Anne and Chippendale styles of Great Britain. In certain cases they are adorned at the knee with carved shells, cabochons, acanthus leaves, or grotesque masks, like those on the present piece.

Styles of furniture also varied from region to region within the colonies, and different types were usually made in specific production centers that had their own unique characteristics. For example, the southern city of Pátzcuaro in Mexico was known for its exceptional lacquerworks, and particularly the use of gilding within them. In contrast to incised and inlaid lacquer techniques used elsewhere, artists in Patzcuaro applied their pigments with a brush.4 Many pieces from this region exhibit strong Asian influence and include decorative motifs like weeping willows, peonies, pavilions and exotic birds. One of the most famous makers to embody these characteristics, and the only one to sign his works, was Manuel de la Cerda. An eighteenth century writing desk by de la Cerda in the collection of the Hispanic Society of America is an impressive example of the confluence of European rococo forms with Asian-inspired decoration executed using indigenous methods (figure 1).

Although the taste for religious themes, which once completely dominated Latin American art, would not wane, there was nevertheless a growing preference among the viceregal aristocracy for secular works. Profane subjects, “including Ovidian and other themes from antiquity, were often used in the decoration of furnishings [and comprised]…a wide variety of nonreligious subjects: historical events, scenes from literature and mythology, city views, landscapes, scenes of country life and daily living, hunting scenes, festivals, and the seasons of the year.”5 A seventeenth century lacquer cabinet of Pátzcuaro manufacture in the Museo Franz Mayer depicts a scene with Jupiter’s chariot being pulled by girls (figure 2). The present table also illustrates a number of secular subjects and, like the cabinet, is painted with a less common white lacquer ground.

When fully closed, the table presents an elegant, yet simple rococo form. The top is decorated with a rocaille border executed in imitation of guadamecí, a Spanish tradition of embossed and gilded or painted leatherwork practiced as early as the 9th century, primarily in Córdoba. However, various and more elaborate decorative elements are concealed within. The top firsts unfolds to reveal a large flat surface populated by a variety of figures, fauna and architectural elements. In the top section, two mythological figures, who appear to be Triton and Diana, ride in their respective chariots. A peasant hunts a stag with bow and arrow to one side, a cluster of buildings stands in the center, and colorful birds fly throughout this portion of the top.

On lower half of the open table top, our attention is drawn toward the bottom to a hunting scene composed of distinctively contemporary hispanic colonial riders on their horses and with spears and whips, who appear to fall behind two large gladiators pursuing a lion and a bear. Above this chase a more pastoral scene is painted; a single kilted figure dances while playing a pipe or whistle, and is surrounded by numerous animals, namely a ubiquitous Spanish bull, goats, a dog and, curiously, a unicorn. Further architectural scenes are found on the left and right sides of this section. Throughout the entire tabletop Asian-inspired rock formations issuing large branches with flowers are painted with gilded highlights.

A biombo, or folding screen, with hunting scene made in Mexico circa 1697-1701, today in the Brooklyn Museum, can be compared to the present piece with regard to color palette and layout of figural and architectural groups in a landscape, as well as hunters in similar dress to the colonial figures of the table top (figure 3). An engraving of a Gobelins tapestry served as the inspiration for the biombo’s hunting tableau. Like many images reproduced on colonial furnishings, “scenes were often based on Classical models, available through prints brought from Europe, and chosen by individuals who understood their significance; thus it can be supposed that the majority of these pieces were created for specific commissions.”6

A further red and gilt border of rocaille and floral decoration surrounds the entire scene of the table top. The most interesting aspect of the top can be found in the lower central section of this border; an aerial view of an estate very much in the manner of a hacienda. This follows the approach of including the owner’s property within decoration, such as that found on the interior of a celebrated secretary in the Museo José Luis Bello de Puebla, the interior of which draws on indigenous maps outlining an actual territory. A further example of topographical imagery in furniture is a escritorio depicting the town of Villa Alta de San Ildefonso in Oaxaca, Mexico, formerly in the Carlton Hobbs collection and now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Moreover, it is a keynote of Mexican biombos to use topography as the principal subject matter. The hacienda painted on the present table is very likely evidence of the grand home in which it once stood.

The unfolded top of this table opens up once more to reveal a gilt-framed mirror flanked by painted vignettes on a bold red ground, which is actually formed of opaque glazes rather than paint, above a hollow compartment surrounded by four drawers. This section of the table was constructed with three-sided concave recesses specifically to accommodate the protruding mirror frame when folded in. The feature of projecting D-form gilt frames similarly appears on a retablo, or portable altar, in the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection, which also shares the vermillion ground (figure 4). The entirety of the compartmented interior is painted with colorful chinoiserie decoration with gilt highlights. Classical chinese buildings with sweeping roofs stand among flowering trees. Animals also populate the scenes, and include colorful birds, a lion and stag, and a playful monkey. There is even a horseback rider dressed in contemporary Spanish fashion with a spear charging a sinuous dragon.

The painted panels to each side of the gilt-framed mirror reproduce early 18th century European paintings with scenes from ancient folklore. Both are framed by intricate raised gilt rocaille decoration, again in imitation of guadamecí. These types of borders can be seen on a variety of objects across the Spanish colonies, from elaborate biombos for public rooms to items of private devotion. A tabernacle from Caracas, which was then part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, displays very similar gilt rocaille reliefs surrounding painted reserves with images of saints, and framing a small sculpture of Christ in the interior, also in the Cisneros Collection (figure 5). On the present table, the scene to the left of the mirror depicts the myth of Leto turning the Lycian peasants into frogs. According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Leto was wandering the earth after giving birth to Apollo and Artemis when she stopped to drink from a pond in Lycia. To prevent her from doing so, the peasants stirred up the mud from the bottom of the pond. As punishment for their lack of hospitality, Leto turned the peasants into frogs, forever dooming them to swim in murky waters. The source for this image was a painting commissioned from Jean Jouvenet in the early 1700s by the Grand Dauphin for the Château Meudon near Paris (figure 6). The companion painting to the right of the mirror on the dressing table tells the tale of Alexander the Great and the painter Apelles. The story was a favorite topic of Renaissance and Baroque painters. According to Pliny’s Natural History (77 AD), Apelles, who was considered one of the greatest artists of the time, was commissioned by Alexander to paint the portrait of his favorite mistress, Campese. While doing so, Apelles fell in love with his sitter and in recognizing this, Alexander kept the painting but presented Campese to the artist. The source for this image appears to be a 1716 engraving after Nicolas Vleughels’ L’amitié généreuse (figure 7). The use of narratives centering around two such compelling women and the theme of love for the painted reserves is certainly appropriate for a lady’s boudoir.

As an elite object crafted by local artists after a European model with Asian-inspired decoration, this dressing table “beautifully reflects New Spain’s prime geographic position at the center of Pacific and Atlantic trade routes and the Viceroyalty’s great wealth at the dawn of the 18th century.”7

This polychrome and gilt decorated lady’s folding dressing table is a rare and charming example of the type of furniture produced for society’s upper classes in eighteenth-century Viceregal Latin America. “For the Spanish colonial elite, decorating the home in the latest European styles functioned as a means of social ascent to the upper echelons of community”1 and there was no limit to the acquisition and display of luxury goods.

With the Bourbon dynasty’s rise to power in Spain, social reforms and promotion of enlightenment ideas ultimately had an impact on the arts both at home and abroad. In the Spanish colonies “one sign of this [was] the proliferation of Rococo architecture, retables, furniture, objects for personal use and so forth.”2 Additionally, as a result of peace treaties, New Spain was opened to trade with French, Dutch, and especially English traders who sent a considerable quantity of furniture to the colony.

The Spanish colonies also enjoyed a prime geographic location at the center of the trade route between the Iberian peninsula and Asia. Not only did they benefit from a flow of European imports, but they received goods traveling on Spanish galleons from Manila to Acapulco. Like they had in Europe and North America, these Far Eastern imports had a strong influence on local artistic production, and soon imitations of Chinese and Japanese products such as lacquer, porcelain, and folding screens emerged. In many instances these craftsman had first hand experience with Asian commodities even before their European counterparts. “If anything characterized interior design in New Spain, it was a hodgepodge of cultures represented, with imported goods from [abroad]…alongside items manufactured by indigenous groups within the territory.”3 A distinctive feature and a staple in colonial Spanish furnishings from the eighteenth century onward is the cabriole leg, adopted from the Queen Anne and Chippendale styles of Great Britain. In certain cases they are adorned at the knee with carved shells, cabochons, acanthus leaves, or grotesque masks, like those on the present piece.

Styles of furniture also varied from region to region within the colonies, and different types were usually made in specific production centers that had their own unique characteristics. For example, the southern city of Pátzcuaro in Mexico was known for its exceptional lacquerworks, and particularly the use of gilding within them. In contrast to incised and inlaid lacquer techniques used elsewhere, artists in Patzcuaro applied their pigments with a brush.4 Many pieces from this region exhibit strong Asian influence and include decorative motifs like weeping willows, peonies, pavilions and exotic birds. One of the most famous makers to embody these characteristics, and the only one to sign his works, was Manuel de la Cerda. An eighteenth century writing desk by de la Cerda in the collection of the Hispanic Society of America is an impressive example of the confluence of European rococo forms with Asian-inspired decoration executed using indigenous methods (figure 1).

Although the taste for religious themes, which once completely dominated Latin American art, would not wane, there was nevertheless a growing preference among the viceregal aristocracy for secular works. Profane subjects, “including Ovidian and other themes from antiquity, were often used in the decoration of furnishings [and comprised]…a wide variety of nonreligious subjects: historical events, scenes from literature and mythology, city views, landscapes, scenes of country life and daily living, hunting scenes, festivals, and the seasons of the year.”5 A seventeenth century lacquer cabinet of Pátzcuaro manufacture in the Museo Franz Mayer depicts a scene with Jupiter’s chariot being pulled by girls (figure 2). The present table also illustrates a number of secular subjects and, like the cabinet, is painted with a less common white lacquer ground.

When fully closed, the table presents an elegant, yet simple rococo form. The top is decorated with a rocaille border executed in imitation of guadamecí, a Spanish tradition of embossed and gilded or painted leatherwork practiced as early as the 9th century, primarily in Córdoba. However, various and more elaborate decorative elements are concealed within. The top firsts unfolds to reveal a large flat surface populated by a variety of figures, fauna and architectural elements. In the top section, two mythological figures, who appear to be Triton and Diana, ride in their respective chariots. A peasant hunts a stag with bow and arrow to one side, a cluster of buildings stands in the center, and colorful birds fly throughout this portion of the top.

On lower half of the open table top, our attention is drawn toward the bottom to a hunting scene composed of distinctively contemporary hispanic colonial riders on their horses and with spears and whips, who appear to fall behind two large gladiators pursuing a lion and a bear. Above this chase a more pastoral scene is painted; a single kilted figure dances while playing a pipe or whistle, and is surrounded by numerous animals, namely a ubiquitous Spanish bull, goats, a dog and, curiously, a unicorn. Further architectural scenes are found on the left and right sides of this section. Throughout the entire tabletop Asian-inspired rock formations issuing large branches with flowers are painted with gilded highlights.

A biombo, or folding screen, with hunting scene made in Mexico circa 1697-1701, today in the Brooklyn Museum, can be compared to the present piece with regard to color palette and layout of figural and architectural groups in a landscape, as well as hunters in similar dress to the colonial figures of the table top (figure 3). An engraving of a Gobelins tapestry served as the inspiration for the biombo’s hunting tableau. Like many images reproduced on colonial furnishings, “scenes were often based on Classical models, available through prints brought from Europe, and chosen by individuals who understood their significance; thus it can be supposed that the majority of these pieces were created for specific commissions.”6

A further red and gilt border of rocaille and floral decoration surrounds the entire scene of the table top. The most interesting aspect of the top can be found in the lower central section of this border; an aerial view of an estate very much in the manner of a hacienda. This follows the approach of including the owner’s property within decoration, such as that found on the interior of a celebrated secretary in the Museo José Luis Bello de Puebla, the interior of which draws on indigenous maps outlining an actual territory. A further example of topographical imagery in furniture is a escritorio depicting the town of Villa Alta de San Ildefonso in Oaxaca, Mexico, formerly in the Carlton Hobbs collection and now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Moreover, it is a keynote of Mexican biombos to use topography as the principal subject matter. The hacienda painted on the present table is very likely evidence of the grand home in which it once stood.

The unfolded top of this table opens up once more to reveal a gilt-framed mirror flanked by painted vignettes on a bold red ground, which is actually formed of opaque glazes rather than paint, above a hollow compartment surrounded by four drawers. This section of the table was constructed with three-sided concave recesses specifically to accommodate the protruding mirror frame when folded in. The feature of projecting D-form gilt frames similarly appears on a retablo, or portable altar, in the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection, which also shares the vermillion ground (figure 4). The entirety of the compartmented interior is painted with colorful chinoiserie decoration with gilt highlights. Classical chinese buildings with sweeping roofs stand among flowering trees. Animals also populate the scenes, and include colorful birds, a lion and stag, and a playful monkey. There is even a horseback rider dressed in contemporary Spanish fashion with a spear charging a sinuous dragon.

The painted panels to each side of the gilt-framed mirror reproduce early 18th century European paintings with scenes from ancient folklore. Both are framed by intricate raised gilt rocaille decoration, again in imitation of guadamecí. These types of borders can be seen on a variety of objects across the Spainish colonies, from elaborate biombos for public rooms to items of private devotion. A tabernacle from Caracas, which was then part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, displays very similar gilt rocaille reliefs surrounding painted reserves with images of saints, and framing a small sculpture of Christ in the interior, also in the Cisneros Collection (figure 5). On the present table, the scene to the left of the mirror depicts the myth of Leto turning the Lycian peasants into frogs. According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Leto was wandering the earth after giving birth to Apollo and Artemis when she stopped to drink from a pond in Lycia. To prevent her from doing so, the peasants stirred up the mud from the bottom of the pond. As punishment for their lack of hospitality, Leto turned the peasants into frogs, forever dooming them to swim in murky waters. The source for this image was a painting commissioned from Jean Jouvenet in the early 1700s by the Grand Dauphin for the Château Meudon near Paris (figure 6). The companion painting to the right of the mirror on the dressing table tells the tale of Alexander the Great and the painter Apelles. The story was a favorite topic of Renaissance and Baroque painters. According to Pliny’s Natural History (77 AD), Apelles, who was considered one of the greatest artists of the time, was commissioned by Alexander to paint the portrait of his favorite mistress, Campese. While doing so, Apelles fell in love with his sitter and in recognizing this, Alexander kept the painting but presented Campese to the artist. The source for this image appears to be a 1716 engraving after Nicolas Vleughels’ L’amitié généreuse (figure 7). The use of narratives centering around two such compelling women and the theme of love for the painted reserves is certainly appropriate for a lady’s boudoir.

As an elite object crafted by local artists after a European model with Asian-inspired decoration, this dressing table “beautifully reflects New Spain’s prime geographic position at the center of Pacific and Atlantic trade routes and the Viceroyalty’s great wealth at the dawn of the 18th century.”7

Footnotes:

  1. Aste, Richard. Behind Closed Doors: Art in the Spanish American Home, 1492-1898. , 2013. 71.
  2. Borrell, M H. R. The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico: Treasures from the Museo Franz Mayer = La Grandeza Del Me éxico Virreinal : Tesoros Del Museo Franz Mayer. Houston, Tex: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2002. 48.
  3. Ibid., 23.
  4. Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries, Teacher Resource Packet. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1990. 453.
  5. Aste, 111.
  6. Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries, 453.
  7. Aste, 25.

 


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