Large Indo-Portuguese pedestal cabinet - Lot 204

Large Indo-Portuguese pedestal cabinet Ebony, rosewood, bone and gilt brass mounts India, Goa, late 17th - early 18th century H. 175 cm - W. 97 cm - D. 53 cm This cabinet is decorated with a marquetry of radiating rosettes and brass rosettes. The front opens with nine drawers, each adorned with two handles and a keyhole. The base opens with two frieze drawers and a wide drawer. The four uprights are carved with busts extended by sea monster tails. This type of cabinet is typical of export production from Goa. Anthropomorphic feet are one of their characteristics, and can take the form of busts of men, women or children terminated by snake tails or sea monsters. This architectural motif is reminiscent of European Atlantes or caryatids us of the composite animals of South Indian architecture. The overall shape of these cabinets is highly architectural, inspired by European furniture of the period. However, the addition of drawers in the base, creating a massive effect, is an Indo-Portuguese creation. A cabinet with a very similar shape is preserved in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (777-1865). A cabinet with similar inlaid decoration is in the collections of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (inv. 1550) and is illustrated in: Exhibition Catalogue, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon (2004) Goa and the Great Mughal, cat. 117, p. 111. See also Jaffer, A. (2002) Luxury goods from India, the art of cabinet maker, London: V & A Publications, p. 58 - 59. A similar cabinet is in the collections of the Museu de Artes Decorativas de Viana do Castelo (Inv. 1039/1040).