Collection
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Decorative Arts and Design

Traveling Desk (Escritorio)

early 18th century

1 of 7

Object Label

Using woods native to the Andes, the maker of this escritorio (traveling desk) embellished the simple, rectilinear form with popular European motifs such as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as well as lions, stags, unicorns, and dragons. On the desk’s drop front (see illustration), an Indigenous figure in an Andean tunic is trampled by a bull as an African huntsman looks on—a detail that reflects the perceived socio-racial hierarchies maintained by elites of Spanish descent in the Americas.

Caption

Traveling Desk (Escritorio), early 18th century. Cedar or walnut, citrus and other wood inlays, and iron, 9 1/4 x 16 3/8 x 12 in. (23.5 x 41.6 x 30.5 cm) installed dims with BCD m-1 primary mount: 20 x 16 3/4 x 14 in. (50.8 x 42.5 x 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Leo E. Fleischman, 45.175.5. CC-BY-NC-SA. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Title

Traveling Desk (Escritorio)

Date

early 18th century

Geography

Possible place made: Moxos Region, Bolivia, Possible place made: Moxos region, Peru

Medium

Cedar or walnut, citrus and other wood inlays, and iron

Classification

Furnishing

Dimensions

9 1/4 x 16 3/8 x 12 in. (23.5 x 41.6 x 30.5 cm) installed dims with BCD m-1 primary mount: 20 x 16 3/4 x 14 in. (50.8 x 42.5 x 35.6 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Leo E. Fleischman

Accession Number

45.175.5

Rights

CC-BY-NC-SA

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