Travelling Desk
Viceroyalty of New Granada, Audiencia of Quito (current Ecuador).
Polychrome wood, with metal lock.
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Provenance
Private Collection. Santa Fe, United States of America.
From the dawn of time, man has created pieces of furniture with the purpose of increasing his comfort, lending his creations a series of aesthetic values and elements that reflect numerous aspects of culture, lifestyle and the way of thinking of the societies that produce them.1 Each one of these pieces of furniture fulfils a function, and multiple types of model exist to meet the varying needs being satisfied. Some have no decoration and, while others present simple adornments, they may be austere or lacking in style. For those who could afford them, there were renowned workshops and artists that could be called on for commissions involving exquisitely decorated furnishings for civil or devotional use. Not all the citizens of the Viceroyalty were in a position to purchase sophisticated furniture, much less aspire to said objects also being intended to produce aesthetic delight, the purpose of which also lay in bestowing symbolic value and elite status. As such, one might say that beyond the practical functionality of such objects, what gave the workshops, artists and artisans behind these marvels fame and renown were their beauty, their craftsmanship and the rarity of the materials used.
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