Luxury boxes were highly prized throughout Spanish America. Traditionally, this type of intricate geometric decoration was viewed as a byproduct of the Mudéjar style that originated with Arab craftsmen living in Spain between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, which subsequently traveled to Mexico with the Spanish colonists. Recent scholarship, however, has argued for a more complex origin of similar patterns grounded on a wide range of Western-European sources.

This chest incorporates bone and tortoiseshell inlay into fine geometric designs, employing a technique known as embutido. The eight-pointed star resembles decorative panels found on the episcopal seat of the choir of the Puebla Cathedral. Although this type has been generically described as “Mudejar” (a term used to refer to persistence of Islamic art in Spain after the Christian conquest), similar designs circulated in European gardening manuals that were referenced by a range of artists and craftspeople, suggesting that the patterns of transference was more complex.

• Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.
• Díaz Cayeros, Patricia. “Mobiliario novohispano con diseños geométricos: maderas, carey y hueso.” Res Mobils. Revista internacional de investigación en mobiliario y objetos decorativos 10, no 13 (2021):31–53.

• Ilona Katzew, “Special Things: Boxes in Spanish America,” Unframed, July 20, 2022, https://unframed.lacma.org/2022/07/20/special-things-boxes-spanish-america.