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Large, curved lidded wooden chest with inlay and sgraffito decoration using the zulaque techniq
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Description
Large, curved lidded wooden chest with inlay and sgraffito decoration using the zulaque technique and wrought iron fittings. Novo-Hispanic work. Villa Alta de Oaxaca, Mexico. 17th century.
50 x 85 x 43 cm.
This chest is unique because its entire decoration is centred around ancestral cultures predating the arrival of the Spaniards, harking back to the Aztecs. Elements of fauna and characters unrelated to those extracted from engravings from Europe can be found. This peculiarity indicates, in our opinion, a rather decided intention to showcase these origins and culture with pride, by eschewing the usual European-inspired decoration. From this, we deduce that it might have been commissioned by an important personality in Oaxacan society.
On the curved lid, in the centre, there is a rosette-like motif formed by feathers and leaves. Above and below the rosette, there is a head with a feathered crown, which could well represent Moctezuma, in our opinion; closing the circle, the same motif of a face with a curious headdress is repeated. On both sides of this central scene, there is an elaborate composition of flowers and rosettes. The upper edge of the lid is edged with a border identical to the one found on one of the two Oaxacan chests kept in Zaragoza at the Alma Mater Museum.
The front is magnificently decorated, again with a decidedly indigenous character: displaying what is probably a double-headed quetzal on a pedestal on both sides. As Paz Aguiló indicates when referring to a similar chest from Zaragoza, which is decorated with a pair of bird-like creatures similar to eagles on its lid: "it could be a pair of quetzals arranged in heraldic style, in imitation of the eagles in European decorations. This transformation of animal and plant elements taken from European engravings into something native to their environment is what truly turns the furniture from Oaxaca into the genuine expression of Novo-Hispanic style."
In the central part of the front are the figures of two indigenous people with a spear at the back of an animal that looks like a horse with a feline head, as well as two human figures catching a coiled snake. Finally, in the centre, under the magnificent iron fitting, there is a lady with a flower that could symbolise spring.
Both sides show the same motif of a warrior with shield and sword defending himself against two lions by killing them.
We see similarities between the decoration on this chest and objects of local gold and silver craftsmanship found in ancient tombs, such as the Mixtec gold and silver pectoral pieces or some more closely related to the decoration of this chest: Mesoamerican jewellery rescued from Tomb 7 at Monte Albán, located in Oaxaca itself.
This type of furniture was a clear example of the social prestige of its owners, as Gustavo Curiel indicates, as examples of Oaxacan pieces of furniture were found in the inventories of noble families.
Unlike this chest, it was more common for this type of furniture to be for export and, therefore, decorated in the taste of European clientele, who preferred allegorical, mythological, courtly, palatial, or landscape scenes, drawn from European books and engravings. As we mentioned, this influence is not reflected in the spirit that inspired the creation of this large chest in the auction.
Pieces of the same importance as this one, although without the particularity of traditional Aztec decoration, can be found in various museums. A similar one is kept in the collection at the Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico; likewise, a magnificent desk is part of the collection at the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid; the magnificent chest from Villa Alta of the Marquises of Mancera from the Gerstenmaier collection; also, the two chests, as mentioned, kept in the Alma Mater Museum in Zaragoza.
The specific and unique Oaxacan decoration technique is well explained by Mr. Andrés Gutiérrez Usillos, in “El baúl de taracea de Villa Alta (Oaxaca, Nueva España) de los marqueses de Mancera en la colección Gerstenmaier. Una obra invitada en “contexto” en el Museo de América” (The Inlaid Chest from Villa Alta (Oaxaca, New Spain) belonging to the Marquises of Mancera in the Gerstenmaier Collection. A guest piece in 'context' at the Museum of the Americas): "One of the most interesting aspects that characterise and individualise this production from Villa Alta compared to other similar carpentry is the use of sgraffito or excavation of the contours, folds, features, and shadows of the designs and figures, and their filling with a black paste called zulaque or zumaque, which would give a very similar appearance to woodcut prints [...] the technique of wood inlay and incisions or sgraffito filled with black paste, characteristics that define the Viceroyalty production of the town of Villa Alta, in Oaxaca, Mexico."
It is also interesting to read Aguiló, who explains that the technique in question is an "embossed zulaque - a bituminous paste of slaked lime and black dye extracted from logwood, with which threads are formed that are inserted into the grooves made in the wood under pressure, forming figurative decorative motifs."
Reference bibliography:
- Aguiló, María Paz. (2008). "Aproximaciones al estudio del mueble Novohispano en España". CESIC publications.
- Ramiro Reglero, Elisa. (2020). “Dos baúles oaxaqueños en el Museo Alma Mater De Zaragoza, dotación a la iglesia de Alfocea del jurista Juan Francisco de Montemayor Córdoba y Cuenca”
- Curiel, Gustavo. (Coord.). (2019). Carpinteros de la sierra. El mobiliario taraceado de la Villa Alta de San Ildefonso, Oaxaca (Siglos XVII y XVIII), Ciudad de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, 2 vols.
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Large, curved lidded wooden chest with inlay and sgraffito decoration using the zulaque technique and wrought iron fittings. Novo-Hispanic work. Villa Alta de Oaxaca, Mexico. 17th century.
50 x 85 x 43 cm.
This chest is unique because its entire decoration is centred around ancestral cultures predating the arrival of the Spaniards, harking back to the Aztecs. Elements of fauna and characters unrelated to those extracted from engravings from Europe can be found. This peculiarity indicates, in our opinion, a rather decided intention to showcase these origins and culture with pride, by eschewing the usual European-inspired decoration. From this, we deduce that it might have been commissioned by an important personality in Oaxacan society.
On the curved lid, in the centre, there is a rosette-like motif formed by feathers and leaves. Above and below the rosette, there is a head with a feathered crown, which could well represent Moctezuma, in our opinion; closing the circle, the same motif of a face with a curious headdress is repeated. On both sides of this central scene, there is an elaborate composition of flowers and rosettes. The upper edge of the lid is edged with a border identical to the one found on one of the two Oaxacan chests kept in Zaragoza at the Alma Mater Museum.
The front is magnificently decorated, again with a decidedly indigenous character: displaying what is probably a double-headed quetzal on a pedestal on both sides. As Paz Aguiló indicates when referring to a similar chest from Zaragoza, which is decorated with a pair of bird-like creatures similar to eagles on its lid: "it could be a pair of quetzals arranged in heraldic style, in imitation of the eagles in European decorations. This transformation of animal and plant elements taken from European engravings into something native to their environment is what truly turns the furniture from Oaxaca into the genuine expression of Novo-Hispanic style."
In the central part of the front are the figures of two indigenous people with a spear at the back of an animal that looks like a horse with a feline head, as well as two human figures catching a coiled snake. Finally, in the centre, under the magnificent iron fitting, there is a lady with a flower that could symbolise spring.
Both sides show the same motif of a warrior with shield and sword defending himself against two lions by killing them.
We see similarities between the decoration on this chest and objects of local gold and silver craftsmanship found in ancient tombs, such as the Mixtec gold and silver pectoral pieces or some more closely related to the decoration of this chest: Mesoamerican jewellery rescued from Tomb 7 at Monte Albán, located in Oaxaca itself.
This type of furniture was a clear example of the social prestige of its owners, as Gustavo Curiel indicates, as examples of Oaxacan pieces of furniture were found in the inventories of noble families.
Unlike this chest, it was more common for this type of furniture to be for export and, therefore, decorated in the taste of European clientele, who preferred allegorical, mythological, courtly, palatial, or landscape scenes, drawn from European books and engravings. As we mentioned, this influence is not reflected in the spirit that inspired the creation of this large chest in the auction.
Pieces of the same importance as this one, although without the particularity of traditional Aztec decoration, can be found in various museums. A similar one is kept in the collection at the Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico; likewise, a magnificent desk is part of the collection at the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid; the magnificent chest from Villa Alta of the Marquises of Mancera from the Gerstenmaier collection; also, the two chests, as mentioned, kept in the Alma Mater Museum in Zaragoza.
The specific and unique Oaxacan decoration technique is well explained by Mr. Andrés Gutiérrez Usillos, in “El baúl de taracea de Villa Alta (Oaxaca, Nueva España) de los marqueses de Mancera en la colección Gerstenmaier. Una obra invitada en “contexto” en el Museo de América” (The Inlaid Chest from Villa Alta (Oaxaca, New Spain) belonging to the Marquises of Mancera in the Gerstenmaier Collection. A guest piece in 'context' at the Museum of the Americas): "One of the most interesting aspects that characterise and individualise this production from Villa Alta compared to other similar carpentry is the use of sgraffito or excavation of the contours, folds, features, and shadows of the designs and figures, and their filling with a black paste called zulaque or zumaque, which would give a very similar appearance to woodcut prints [...] the technique of wood inlay and incisions or sgraffito filled with black paste, characteristics that define the Viceroyalty production of the town of Villa Alta, in Oaxaca, Mexico."
It is also interesting to read Aguiló, who explains that the technique in question is an "embossed zulaque - a bituminous paste of slaked lime and black dye extracted from logwood, with which threads are formed that are inserted into the grooves made in the wood under pressure, forming figurative decorative motifs."
Reference bibliography:
- Aguiló, María Paz. (2008). "Aproximaciones al estudio del mueble Novohispano en España". CESIC publications.
- Ramiro Reglero, Elisa. (2020). “Dos baúles oaxaqueños en el Museo Alma Mater De Zaragoza, dotación a la iglesia de Alfocea del jurista Juan Francisco de Montemayor Córdoba y Cuenca”
- Curiel, Gustavo. (Coord.). (2019). Carpinteros de la sierra. El mobiliario taraceado de la Villa Alta de San Ildefonso, Oaxaca (Siglos XVII y XVIII), Ciudad de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, 2 vols.
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