Traveling Desk (Escritorio)

A number of Spanish American towns became well-known manufacturing centers specializing in escritorios and related desk types. Among the most famous was Villa Alta de San Ildefonso in Oaxaca, Mexico, where this finely crafted traveling desk was created. The desk’s interior is inlaid with representations of saints and their attributes within New World landscapes, suggesting a religious provenance. The piece, designed for personal use, may have furnished a private space within a larger ecclesiastical complex for a high-ranking member of the church.