Description
The Bargueño is one of Spain’s most distinctive contributions to European furniture. An elegant cabinet in the form of a chest, this example retains its original stand. It is also known as a Vargueño, after the town of Vargas, near Toledo, one of its principal centres of production.
It was the preferred piece of furniture of conquistadors and missionaries, used to transport administrative, diplomatic, and personal documents and belongings during expeditions to the New World.
The Bargueno
Crafted in fine walnut, this cabinet opens with a fall-front panel revealing an elaborate interior arranged as a theatre of drawers over three tiers, richly decorated with bone inlay and gilt wood.
The upper tier features two side doors framing a pair of stacked drawers, flanking a central vertical drawer concealing a secret compartment.
The middle tier is composed of two superimposed drawers on each outer side, with two vertical drawers surrounding the central architectural portico.
The lower tier presents yet another arrangement, with two side porticos framing two large drawers with false bottoms, separated by a small central drawer.
Each door is decorated with an antique-inspired architectural portico, complete with a moulded cornice surmounted by volutes and supported by paired columns on either side of a wrought-iron shell-shaped handle.
When the fall-front is raised and secured by four small catches, it reveals a hasp lock and an impressive display of finely wrought iron mounts, centred either by hanging drop handles or pinecone finials. Elegant carrying handles on each side remind us that, before becoming a prestigious display cabinet, the Bargueño was designed as a travelling cabinet.
The Taquillón
Serving as its original stand, the Taquillón resembles a chest of drawers and opens with two doors and two drawers decorated with moulded diamond motifs framed by geometric borders.
It is fitted with two pull-out supports for the writing flap, each terminating in beautifully carved scallop shells (St. James’ shells).
Today, the Bargueño has become an exceptionally rare piece of furniture. It is one of the most characteristic expressions of Spanish decorative arts, a form that was never developed elsewhere in Europe. Highly prized by collectors, it served both as a sumptuous display cabinet, exhibited open in the grand reception rooms of palaces, and as a travelling chest, as evidenced by its side carrying handles and impressive wrought-iron fittings.