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Collections

Unidentified artists
Chest (Baúl)circa 1700

On view:
Geffen Galleries, Transatlantic Exchange and Its Legacies
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 Manila Galleon trade. When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in the sixteenth century, they capitalized on existing traditions of woodcarving and an abundance of fine woods by incorporating carved decoration into newly built churches, retablos (altarpieces), 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.


From exhibition Archive of the World, 2022 (for more information see the catalogue entry by Rachel Kaplan in the accompanying publication, cat. no. 79, pp. 310–12)

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. 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. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024