Unidentified artists
Chest (Baúl)circa 1700

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Carved wood chest with barrel-shaped lid, covered in dense low-relief foliate scrollwork, with iron lock plate, hasp, and nail-studded reinforcing strips

Artist or Maker: Unidentified artists
Title: Chest (Baúl)
Place Made: Philippines
Date Made: circa 1700
Medium: Philippine mahogany and wrought-iron metalwork
Dimensions: 26 × 43 × 23 in. (66 × 109.2 × 58.4 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Ernest Schernikow
Accession Number: M.2019.269
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: Trunks were a typical product of the prosperous trade of the Manila Galleons—the Spanish vessels that sailed annually between the Philippines and Mexico. When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in the sixteenth century, they capitalized on existing traditions of wood carving and an abundance of fine woods by incorporating carved decoration into newly built churches and a range of luxury export goods. This travel chest bears an elaborately rendered vegetal motif across its surfaces, while the dovetail joints on the sides exemplify the dexterous artistry of the piece. Below the lock plate is a double-headed eagle—a symbol of the Spanish monarchy. The four crowned animals with outstretched tongues that surround the lock plate recall the rampant lions of the Spanish coat of arms.

Constructed from tropical hardwoods that were naturally resistant to insects and pleasantly fragrant, trunks such as this were made in multiple sizes to store a range of items. The back retains traces of red paint, hinting at the possible original polychromy of the trunk.

Rachel Kaplan

2024
Provenance: Ernest Schernikow, San Francisco, c. late 19th–early 20th century; on loan to the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science, and Art (LACMA’s parent institution), 1933–2019; LACMA, 2019.
Selected Bibliography: 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.
Selected Exhibition History: Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

Related Exhibitions

Unidentified artists
Chest (Baúl)circa 1700

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Artist or Maker: Unidentified artists
Title: Chest (Baúl)
Place Made: Philippines
Date Made: circa 1700
Medium: Philippine mahogany and wrought-iron metalwork
Dimensions: 26 × 43 × 23 in. (66 × 109.2 × 58.4 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Ernest Schernikow
Accession Number: M.2019.269
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: Trunks were a typical product of the prosperous trade of the Manila Galleons—the Spanish vessels that sailed annually between the Philippines and Mexico. When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in the sixteenth century, they capitalized on existing traditions of wood carving and an abundance of fine woods by incorporating carved decoration into newly built churches and a range of luxury export goods. This travel chest bears an elaborately rendered vegetal motif across its surfaces, while the dovetail joints on the sides exemplify the dexterous artistry of the piece. Below the lock plate is a double-headed eagle—a symbol of the Spanish monarchy. The four crowned animals with outstretched tongues that surround the lock plate recall the rampant lions of the Spanish coat of arms.

Constructed from tropical hardwoods that were naturally resistant to insects and pleasantly fragrant, trunks such as this were made in multiple sizes to store a range of items. The back retains traces of red paint, hinting at the possible original polychromy of the trunk.

Rachel Kaplan

2024
Provenance: Ernest Schernikow, San Francisco, c. late 19th–early 20th century; on loan to the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science, and Art (LACMA’s parent institution), 1933–2019; LACMA, 2019.
Selected Bibliography: 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.
Selected Exhibition History: Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024