A SPANISH BRASS-MOUNTED IVORY, TORTOISESHELL AND WALNUT CABINET

The 17th Century Spanish cabinets of the papeleira and escritorio types, which had developed from the 16th Century fall-front vargueños were very representative of the mudejar or Hispano-Moresque style. Vargueños were typically decorated with an architectural façade fitted with small ivory plaques and often embellished with bronze mounts while the Papeleiras, a later and more ostentatious adaptation of the vargueño, were fitted with neither a fall-front nor doors, and were often surmounted by a gilt-bronze gallery.
This striking cabinet is related to a tortoiseshell and bone-inlaid papeleira in the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Madrid (ill. M. Alonso, El Mueble en Espana, Siglos XVI-XVII, Madrid, 1993, p. 306).
Interestingly, the tales and adventures of Cervantes' Don Quixote have been a favoured subject for this style of cabinets, and scenes from the knight-errant's story can be found on numerous examples, including an escritorio currently in the Museo Casa de Cervantes, Valladolid, Spain (ill. M. Alonso, Op. Cit., p. 307).