Cabinet on stand

The technique used, the type of decoration and the historiated scenes, all refer to a Mughal work. Mughal was the name given to the dynasty founded by Babur (the warrior chief from Central Asia), who conquered the sultanate of Delhi in 1526 and established an extensive empire in India for over three centuries.

Besides the clearly visible formal influence of the Portuguese furniture, this cabinet displays oriental decorative and iconographic traditions, which can be noted in the figuration of the “tree of life”, or in the prominence given to the simurgh or rokh (a mythical bird), carrying elephants in its claws. Also of particular meaning and importance is the representation, at the stand's doors, of Portuguese horsemen hunting, a detail that underlines their effective presence at the Mughal court.