Linen Press Wardrobe (Cómoda escaparate)
- unknown artist
Unknown artist, Linen Press Wardrobe, 1799. Spanish cedar, hardwood veneer, and silver hardware; 6 ft 6⅜ in. × 49½ × 21⅛ in. Gift of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros in honor of Guillermo Cisneros Phelps, 2017.120A-B.
From its foundation, the city of Cumaná in eastern Venezuela had a troubled existence. Attacks from Indigenous groups and pirates were frequent. Major earthquakes, the first of which was recorded in 1530, periodically shattered its foundation. Although records on early Cumaná woodworking have yet to be discovered, however, thanks to subsequent travelers’ accounts, and a few surviving examples, we know that the town had a remarkable tradition of fine furniture making. In 1799, Alexander von Humboldt described the city as a provincial town and, as regards furniture making, wrote: “Mr. de Emparan [Don Vicente de Emparán y Orbe (1747-1820) the governor of the province of Cumaná] showed us cottons dyed with native plants, and fine furniture that was made exclusively with the wood of the country.”
This marquetry chest is a rare surviving piece from that period. It was made in 1799 for Don Domingo Mauricio de Besoitagoena de Berrizbeitia y Zamalloa (1773-1813), a Basque crown functionary appointed Regidor and Faithful Executor of the City Council in Cumaná, to commemorate his marriage in October 21st of the same year to Doña María de los Dolores Mayz y Márquez de Valenzuela (b. 1776), a local lady of noble ancestry. The fine construction and detailing of this chest testifies the high level of craftsmanship achieved by local cabinetmakers.
--Jorge Rivas Pérez, Frederick and Jan Mayer Curator of Latin American Art, 2019
