λ AN INDO-PORTUGUESE TORTOISESHELL, EBONY AND IVORY TABLE CABINET (VARGUENO)
Possibly Goa, South-Western Indian coast, made for the export market, late 17th - 18th century

Of typical rectangular shape, resting on a plain wooden base, with a hinged lid at the top and six drawers disguised as eight to the front, each drawer with a rounded ivory knob with residues of red paint, two brass key locks, the exterior a tour-de-force of Indo-Portuguese marquetry work featuring rectangular and square tortoiseshell panels painted in gold with scrolling vegetal motifs and flowers; painted and stained openwork ivory bands against a mica ground, each ivory panel designed as Indian jali windows with interlocking lotus scrolls and split palmette trellis, the bands at the top designed instead as architectural battlements; each decorative plaque set within a narrow green-stained ivory frame secured with brass pins; the interior with a red-painted tray divided into multiple compartments and secret drawers, a chainlet to one side, the interior of the lid lined with orange velvet, the back plain, 30cm x 41.5cm x 27.5cm.

For a similar 17th-century Mughal cabinet with green-stained ivory decorative panels with floral decoration, please see the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (Les Indes et l'Europe: Échanges Artistiques et Heritage Commun 1650-1850, Bordeaux, 1999, p.124, no.81). An 18th-century Indo-Portuguese tortoiseshell and stained ivory cabinet, by repute personal property of Henrietta, Countess of Bessborough, wife of Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough (1758-1844), was successfully sold at Christie's London, 22 July 2020, lot 43. Similar to our lot, the cabinet sold at Christie's presented analogous green-stained ivory frames and battlements fretwork bands around the top edges, proving these were popular and recurrent motifs in the production of Indian export market furniture pieces.

This item may require Export or CITES licences in order to leave the UK or the European Union. It is the buyer's responsibility to ensure that lots have the relevant licences before shipping.

Offered at Sotheby's London, 25 April 2018, lot 151; subsequently purchased directly from the owner and in a private UK collection since.