Salmantino Bargueño from the 17th century. Walnut... Lot 66

Salmantino Bargueño from the 17th century. Walnut wood, bone, carved and gilded wood, brass. Foot from the 19th century. Measurements: 71 x 112 x 41 cm. Bargueño of columns, with frontal hinged lid, decorated in its exterior with metallic plates cut and fretworked, applied on a red cloth bottom. The exterior decoration is completed on the sides with arched handles with central lentils and side hinges. It stands on a foot from a later period (19th century) with turned columns and legs, combining different typically Baroque turnings, joined by straight footings with the front carved in the shape of a lion's claw. The interior is characterised by its great richness, with a decoration based on small columns, turned and gilded, and bone decorations in geometric shapes. The most common type of chest of this type is decorated with drawers and a central door with four drawers inside, with fronts following different models, which are mixed as we can see here. The piece is organised in three registers as was usual at the time. The personality of the Spanish style was so strong in the 17th century that it prevented outside influences, especially from France due to the bad diplomatic situation at the time, and this meant a great influence on the rest of Europe, where French models dominated. The 17th century in Spain was a period of decadence, and this would be felt to a great extent in furniture. There were not as luxurious pieces as in other countries, a fact also determined by the pragmatics against luxury dictated by the monarchs. However, Spanish furniture from the Baroque period was of considerable quality, with an enormous personality and, above all, a great interest from the point of view of typology and the search for functionality over decoration.