A six-drawer cabinet simulating nine with stand teak ebony, sissoo, ivory, green-dyed bone, teak and sandalwood marquetry "Vases with flowers", reserves "Perspective cubes", stand with two drawers and double stretchers with carved legs "Nagas" with ivory faces and breasts, copper gilt mounts indo-portuguese, Mughal influence 16th/17th C. restoration Dimensões (altura x comprimento x largura) - 102,3 x 58,5 x 36,5 cm Notes: a) This lot is subject to CITES export/import restrictions and is duly certified: nº 23PTLX12545C;
b) It is currently prohibited by several countries to import goods that incorporate materials from protected wild fauna and flora species, including, among others, ivory, coral and turtoiseshell;
c) In Portugal, in accordance with the planned transposition into national legislation of the most recent EU guidelines on ivory trade, the issuance of re-export certificates to countries that are not part of the EU is suspended;
d) In this context, potential buyers are advised to inform themselves in advance about the legislation of their country and applicable international restrictions.

"This rare cabinet on stand made from teak (Tectona grandis) is veneered in East Indian rosewood
(Dalbergia latifolia) and ebony (Diospyros ebenum) and, given its small size, was likely placed over a
dais or raised platform. It is decorated with rosewood, ebony, exotic wood, ivory and green-dyed bone
inlays all pinned with small brass pins, resulting in a sumptuous work of marquetry; the rich decoration is
further highlighted by the copious pierced openwork fire gilt copper fittings and the large dome-shaped
nails framing the drawers and edges of the box and the stand’s drawer fronts. Of large dimensions, the
box is fitted with six drawers (simulating nine for the sake of symmetry) set in three tiers, each with its
own pierced openwork escutcheon-shaped lock plate and two handles and openwork plate placed on each
side. The stand features two drawers.
The marquetry decoration consists of flowering plants set in symmetry with borders featuring
four-petaled rosettes. The central fields of the sides and top include the typical pattern of isometric cubes
alternating ebony, ivory and green dyed bone. Apart from the border with alternating rosettes similar to
those on the other faces, the back is undecorated, showing the beautiful veins of the rosewood; it would
have been placed against a wall. The prismatic structure of the stand with its double-tiered stretchers also
features alternating rosettes. The legs are covered on the front sides with stylised elements depicting
Nāgiṇī, made from ebony and inlaid in ivory, rosewood, exotic wood, and green-dyed bone, depicted with
the head and torso of a woman touching her breasts (fertility), and the lower body as a serpent. The faces

of the Nāgiṇī are delicately carved in ivory, in contrast with the dark ebony, as well as the button-shaped
breasts. Nāgiṇī are the female version of the Naga, the Sanskrit word for a deity or class of entity or
being, taking the form of a very large snake. In Hindu religious culture, Nāgas are considered nature
spirits closely associated with water, rivers, lakes and seas, protectors of springs, wells and rivers,
propitiating rain, and thus fertility. They are object of great reverence even in modern times and
especially in South India where they are still worshiped as female deities particularly by women devotees,
bringing them fertility and prosperity - see Oldham (1901). The Nāgiṇī serve an apotropaic function; to
ward off evil intentions by protecting the contents hidden in this type of furniture used to store valuables,
such as money, documents, jewellery and precious objects.
As is the rule for the production of furniture in India under Portuguese patronage, this type of
cabinet is European in shape and origin, and modelled on furniture brought to Asia by the Portuguese,
while their exuberant decoration, in clear horror vacui, alongside the intricate design of the pierced
openwork gilt copper fittings, is of local Indian origin. Their overall design stands as a true example of
the cultural and artistic synthesis that took place after the arrival of the Portuguese in India. Given that
sixteenth-century Portuguese records mention the village of Taná, or Thane - today part of the city of
Mumbai (Bombay) -, in which flourished a large community of Muslim craftsmen, as the origin for
precious marquetry furniture, it is highly probable that the centre of production of this table cabinet is
precisely Thane, then part of the Northern Province of the Portuguese State of India - see Mendiratta
(2014). This precious cabinet on stand belongs to an exceptional group of rare, early furniture made for
the Portuguese market which was only recently identified in regard to its geographical origin, decorative
sources of inspiration (Iranian, Ottoman, and European) and historical context of production - see Crespo
(2016), pp. 136-171, cat. 15; Crespo (2021), pp. 88-104; and Crespo (2024).
Bibliografia / Bibliography
Hugo Miguel Crespo, Choices, Lisboa, AR-PAB, 2016; Hugo Miguel Crespo, A Índia em Portugal. Um
Tempo de Confluências Artísticas. India in Portugal. A Time of Artistic Confluence (cat.), Porto,
Bluebook, 2021; Hugo Miguel Crespo, Da Província do Norte. Marchetados e Acharoados da Índia
Portuguesa. From the Northen Province. Marquetries and ‘Lacquerware’ from Portuguese India, Lisboa,
São Roque, Antiguidades & Galeria de Arte, 2024; Sidh Losa Mendiratta, “Two Towns and a Villa.
Baçaim, Chaul and Taná: The Defensive Structure of Three Indo-Portuguese Settlements in Northern
Province of the Estado da Índia”, in Yogesh Sharma, Pius Malenkandathil (eds.), Medieval Cities in
India, New Delhi, Primus Books, 2014, pp. 805-814; Charles F. Oldham, “The Nāgas. A Contribution to
the History of Serpent-Worship”, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland
33 (1901), pp. 461-473"
Hugo Miguel Crespo, Agosto de 2024