Medieval Furniture

An Early 16th Century Stone Carving with polychrome : 'The Death of a Prelate'. The enthroned figure of a Bishop surrounded by attendants and surmounted by celestial angels.

A very beautiful 17th century Baptismal Font from the South of France beautifully carved from marble. Minimalist lines give this piece a calming feel. Wil...

A fine 17th-century Charles II nicely proportioned oak chest of drawers. It features a rectangular planked top. The chest has 2 short and two long drawers, lined with oak, brass drop...

Italian Light Blue Chest H. 38cm - W. 84cm - D. 44cm Chest painted in light blue, in fir wood, small in size, with "onion" legs. Internally there is a sma...

An exceptional Indo-Portuguese colonial mother-of-pearl veneered casket with silver mounts India, Gujarat, 2nd half of the 16th century, the silver mounts Goa or probably Lisbon Measures: H. 16 x W. 24.6 x D. 16.1 cm An exceptional Gujarati casket with a rectangular box and truncated pyramidal lid (with slopes on each side and a flat top) made from exotic wood, probably teak (Tectona grandis), covered with a mother-of-pearl mosaic. The tesserae, cut from the shell of the green turban sea snail (Turbo marmoratus, a marine gastropod) in the shape of fish scales, are pinned to the wooden structure with silver ball-headed nails. The casket is set on bracket feet on the corners. The masterfully engraved decoration of the silver mounts follows the most refined and erudite Mannerist repertoire of rinceaux and ferroneries dating from the mid-16th century. The high quality and refinement of the silver mounts and, likewise, the silver nails that replaced the original brass pins used to hold the mother-of-pearl tesserae in place indicate the work of a silversmith probably working in Lisbon in the second half of the 16th century. The Indian origin of this production, namely from Cambay (Khambhat) and Surat in the present state of Gujarat in north India, is, as for the last three decades, consensual and fully demonstrated, not only by documentary and literary evidence - such as descriptions, travelogues and contemporary archival documentation - but also by the survival in situ of 16th-century wooden structures covered in mother-of-pearl tesserae. A fine example is a canopy decorating the tomb (dargah) of the Sufi saint, Sheik Salim Chisti (1478-1572) in Fatehpur Sikri in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, north India. This is an artistic production, geometric in character and Islamic in nature, where usually the mother-of-pearl tesserae form complex designs of fish scales or, similar to the dishes also made using the same technique, with the thin brass sheets and pins, stylized lotus flowers. The truncated pyramidal shape corresponds, like their contemporary tortoiseshell counterparts also made in Gujarat, to a piece of furniture used in the Indian subcontinent within the Islamic world prior to the arrival of the first Portuguese. This shape, in fact, is very old and peculiar to East-Asian caskets, chests or boxes used to contain and protect Buddhist texts, the sutras. A similar chest is the famous and large reliquary chest from Lisbon cathedral that once contained the relics of the city's patron saint, Saint Vincent. Both match in shape, having the same kind of socle or pedestal and bracket feet, and in their engraved silver mountings, featuring the same type of refined, erudite decoration. Their differences lie in the silver borders that frame the entire length of the edges of the chest (both the box and the lid), pinned with silver nails, and on the lock plate, shaped like a coat of arms in the Lisbon example. Given the exceptional dimensions of the reliquary casket...

Devotional pendant made in silver with a Latin cross shape, decorated on the outside with simple scrolls, spikes, pearls and other elements of classicist inspiration, as well as a ri...

Late 18th century Swiss stone pine chest H. 88 cm – L. 145 cm – D. 69 cm Beautiful chest in pine wood, built at the end of the eighteenth century. On the front there are three...

An antique animal skin or vellum book binding with brass or possibly bronze mounts (sometimes called furniture - centerpiece, corner pieces) of monumental scale. The work measures al...

Make a statement on your mantel, enfilade or tabletop with this antique "Haute Epoque" carved santo figure. Created in Spain, circa 1680, the bust is set ...

17th century Spanish wooden chest Chestnut chest. No restorations needed. Original patina. Original iron work: Handles; hinges; lock 17th cent...

Late 16th century Venetian cedar wood cassone wedding chest featuring finely detailed carving in the champleve decorative style on both the front...

A early 17th century French Gargoyle. Gargoyels were originally intented as waterspouts for churches and castles but soon were used as ornamentation. A...