Papeleira de Alçado Indo-Portuguesa de Estilo Inglês

Indo-Portuguese writing desk with tray, from mid 18th century, English style, made in Visakhapatnam, on the Eastern Coast of India, from exotic wood with inlaid ivory, divided on the inside in multiple niches. The base element is composed by seven drawers and a tray to function as desk: both this part and the faces of those drawers and sides are profusely ornamented by inlaid ivory; each of the sides bears a small inlaid vase between two facing tigers, from where an exotic bush rises to the full height of the furniture scattering different animals along the way. The front of the upper body is composed by two inlaid ivory ornamented doors with identical decoration motifs. The inside of the entire writing desk maintains the same ivory inlaying work and the niches it contains are worked the same way, except for the face of the drawers which are made of brown turtle shell. The outside fimbriae are in rosewood. The metal fittings and the pair of keys are in engraved silver. On the inside, frequent and typical in this type of furniture, we discover secret compartments, meant to keep important business documents, letters, money, and even jewellery. The flora and fauna motifs are inspired in the traditional Tree of Life, very normal in Indian furniture and decoration. In this piece with asymmetrical and unequal motifs we are able to fully reach the whole symbolism of this traditional Indo-Portuguese concept. Since 23 October 1953, this piece of furniture is covered by the Portuguese Law as Portuguese National Heritage by official letter from the General Directorate of Higher Education and Fine Arts, Ministry of National Education, and published in the Government’s journal.