17th Century Indo-Portuguese Cabinet

Indo-Portuguese cabinet from the 17th century, it opens with a flap and seven drawers on three rows. Manifactured at the end of the XVII century in South Asia, it is mainly made of wood and ivory and is elegantly decorated with arabesque motifs and by a stylized floral design. Ours comes from Goa, in marquetry of bone and precious wood. The decoration has a dragon head, putti, owls and birds and a profusion of bestiary. On the sides a plant decoration symbolises the tree of life. ( Height: 42,5 cm; Width: 62,7 cm, Depht: 30,5 cm).

Provenance Galerie Gismondi

Since Vasco da Gama in 1498, Portugal had established trading posts in India. The Portuguese presence, especially in Goa, continued until 1961. The furniture made in Goa at the end of the XVII century is symbolic of the Portuguese power combined with the finesse of the art of the Indian Sub-continent. Similar exemples are preserved today in the Museum Jacquemart André à Paris and also in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.