Carvings and weavings

This Indo-Portuguese medium-sized chest of drawers consists of two parts, supported by four pierced feet carved in the shape of Jatayu, a mythical bird, characteristic of this furniture.

The decoration in ebony on teak is predominately botanical, and is densely distributed over the entire surface of the piece, including the back and interior of the lid of the chest.

Now from Japan, this scissor-folding missal stand ("shokendai") is made of Japanese pine, covered with black lacquer ("urushi"), red lacquer with gold dust ("maki-é") and a mother-of-pearl inlay ("raden").

This valuable piece is part of a group called "Jesuit lacquers" and represents the cultural crossing between the two geographically distant peoples.

This beautiful and rare example of a carpet from ancient central Persia has been dated to the second half of the 16th century.

This carpet made in natural silk has a medallion pattern design and was possibly produced in a royal factory in Kashan during the Safavid dynasty.

This tapestry made in a Brussels Factory, is a unique piece in the collection. It tells the story adapted by Ovid for his work Metamorphoses:

Jupiter decided to marry Venus to Vulcan, the despised god of gire and the forge, in order to calm the numerous and over-powering passions she aroused.
Nevertheless, the marriage did not stop her from having a love affair with Mars. The god of war chose Alectryon to act as a watchman to alert him at sunrise, thus preventing the discovery of his secret meeting with Venus.

The work belonged to the Sé de Coimbra. It may seem that this profane scene could adorn the sacred area of the church, but here it conveys a moral advocating the duty of loyalty to others and to one's commitments.

One day Alectryon fell asleep and Helius, the sun god, quickly warned Vulcano. Seething with anger and jealously, Vulcan decided to shame the lovers by forging an iron chain to tie them up and asked the other gods to testify as to their infidelity.
Humiliated, Mars swore vengeance and transformed Alectryon into a rooster so he could announce the sunrise on time everyday.

It was usual for these Flemish tapestries to depict floral motifs, adopted for their ornamental beauty and symbolic importance so reinforcing the narrative; their exotic appearance or their rarity also revealing the owner's economic and social standing.

Here we see an oak, a sacred tree whose forests the Roman dedicated to various gods; the fig tree that could be dedicated to Mars, and the apple tree signifying "the blindness of passion". The orange, quince, pear, pomegranate and apple are all fruits symbolizing love and happiness and are therefore dedicated to Venus. The rose is considered as her flowehaving appeared in the connection with her birth, while the myrtle is a bush whose perfume is dedicated to her.

In 1882, an inventory made of the Bishop-Count’s goods, Dom Francisco de Lemos, and of the Chapter, this coach is described as "a rich coach equipped with six horses ready and capable of service".
Technically, this is a berliner invented in 1660. It was taller but also more stable than a coach, the carriage was mounted on two axles and linked by a system of belts which gave greater comfort.

What's a Berliner?

It's a ceremonial vehicle. In the second half of the 17th century, in Berlin, in the reign of Frederic William, a new model of vehicle emerged designed by Berlin. The body was suspended on two strong leather straps stretched lengthwise by means of a cric, a rolling mechanism, with a hatchet break inserted in the rear set of wheels. This type of vehicle is faster and safer than a coach. In Portugal, it was only used by the Royal House in the early 18th century.