Drop-front desk on chest (Vargueño)

Date:: 17th century

Culture:: Spanish

Medium:: Carved, gilded, and partly gilded painted bone; wrought iron

Dimensions:: Total H.: 63-3/8 in. (160 cm); a) 38 x 44 x 17 in. (96.5 x 111.8 x 43.2 cm); b) 27 x 43 x 16-3/8 in. (68.6 x 109.2 x 41.6 cm)

Classification:: Woodwork-Furniture

Credit Line:: Gift of the Duchesse de Richelieu, 1960

Accession Number:: 60.52a, b

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 535

The intricate geometric patterning of this distinctively Spanish type of traveling desk shows the fondness for Islamic design that survived long after the Reconquest.

Raimundo Ruíz (until 1925; sale, American Art Association, New York, December 9–12, 1925, no. 579); The Duchesse of Richelieu (until 1960; to MMA)

Timelines
Iberian Peninsula, 1600–1800 A.D.

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (42,437)

Object Type / Material

Iron and iron alloy (12,311)

Geographic Location

Date / Era

A.D. 1600–1800 (74,798)

Rolltop desk

Artist: David Roentgen (German, Herrnhaag 1743–1807 Wiesbaden, master 1780) Date: ca. 1776–79 Medium: Oak, cherry, pine, mahogany, veneered with maple, burl woods, holly, hornbeam (all partially stained), tulipwood, mahogany, and other woods; mother-of-pearl; partially gilded and tooled leather; gilt bronze, iron, steel, brass, partially gold-lacquered brass Accession: 41.82 On view in:Gallery 553

Small desk with folding top (bureau brisé)

Artist: Marquetry by Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt (Dutch, 1639–1715, active France) Date: ca. 1685 Medium: Oak, pine, walnut veneered with ebony, rosewood, and marquetry of tortoiseshell and engraved brass; gilt bronze and steel Accession: 1986.365.3 On view in:Gallery 531

Coffer lock and key

Date: probably early 16th century Medium: Wrought iron Accession: 57.137.5a–d On view in:Gallery 535

Desk (Secretary)

Date: ca. 1730–35 Medium: Pine; carved, painted, gilded, and varnished linden wood decorated with colored decoupage prints; mirror glass; the inside of the fall front lined wiht silk not original to the secretary Accession: 25.134.1a, b On view in:Gallery 507

Commode à vantaux

Artist: David Roentgen (German, Herrnhaag 1743–1807 Wiesbaden, master 1780) Date: ca. 1775–79 with later alterations Medium: Oak, pine, walnut, mahogany, and cherry veneered with hornbeam (partially stained), tulipwood, walnut, holly and maple (both partially stained), boxwood, mahogany, and other woods; red brocatelle marble; gilt bronze; iron, steel, and brass Accession: 1982.60.81 On view in:Gallery 539