An exceptional piece of furniture from the Vice-regal period of the second half of the 17th century, executed in the Analco neighbourhood of Villa Alta de San Ildefonso in the Oaxaca region of Mexico.

It was executed on a base or supporting frame of pinewood, covered by delicate woods from trees such as the Mexican Lemon, Granadillo and Lign-aloes. It presents engraved inlay with Greek fret, lattice work, metopes and religious iconography. The entire work is studded with thin wooden nails, decorated using the "zulaque" technique, and finished with wrought iron metalwork.

In the vice-regal period, the steep-sided mountain range of Oaxaca was the backdrop of Villa Alta de San Ildefonso, a town that excelled for its refined cabinet-making skills. From the loving caresses of its artisans and their rich sense of imagination these exquisite works of art were born.

The workshops of Analco, one of Villa Alta's most prominent neighbourhoods, had access to numerous European engravings, mainly Flemish, which served as a source for depicting the images adorning the pieces of furniture.

There is no doubt that the intellectual overseers, Dominican friars and direct patrons, provided the artisans with an extensive body of erudite images, and that explains the rich iconographic repertory of this type of furniture, presenting scenes of a religious nature and highly complex narratives in its interpretation, particularly messages from Sacred History and of a humanist nature.

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