Cabinets, buffet stands and writing desks were indispensable items of furniture, both in the inside of the homes of the rich and powerful, and in offices and other places of power, mainly linked to the Spanish crown. Their possession implies social prestige, and the more pieces of this type of furniture one had, the higher their social status. Sometimes they were stacked on top of each other or made sets in ascending pyramids. Waste paper baskets, as their name suggests, served for storing papers although in some cases other types of daily goods could be found in them.
The materials used for the elaboration of this furniture, linked to the art of writing, were sanctuary, although there are cases of waste paper baskets made with simpler wood as the use of this item of furniture was not restricted to the most fortunate social classes of the vice-royal population. It should be noted that this item of furniture was movable. Several of the writing cabinets had this distinctive feature. The piece in question is a good example of marquetry furniture. It includes wood (cedar, lemon, rosewood [granadillo] and glazed wood); in addition, there is tortoiseshell, bronze, iron and inlaid bone. The keyholes take on the form of a two headed eagle due to which it is possibly a piece of furniture for Spanish consumption. Given its shapes and characteristics, mainly the black sgraffito over the inlay bones, it could be thought that it is a Flemish work.
In the central door there are two caryatids taken from engravings of the 17th century, (there are similar works in the fantastic work of the German treaty writer Wendel Dietterlin). The outlines of the drawers and a central door include undulant molds pertaining to fine works of furniture from the 17th century. The bronze works are very fine when compared with those made in the Iberian Peninsula. Four clawed legs sustain glazed wooden balls as s. It is also worth noting the color set of the wood used in black with the red from the granadillo and the white and black of the sgraffito bone.
Cabinets, buffet stands and writing desks were indispensable items of furniture, both in the inside of the homes of the rich and powerful, and in offices and other places of power, mainly linked to the Spanish crown. Their possession implies social prestige, and the more pieces of this type of furniture one had, the higher their social status. Sometimes they were stacked on top of each other or made sets in ascending pyramids. Waste paper baskets, as their name suggests, served for storing papers although in some cases other types of daily goods could be found in them.
