{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O370531"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O370531/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GV1991/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GV1991/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2013GV1991","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GV1993","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GV1990","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AE6074","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AE6022","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AE5980","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O370531/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O370531","accessionNumber":"W.19-1925","objectType":"Box","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Boxes and chests of all kinds were household objects of prime importance, and might be stowed for safety under beds or in secret cubbyholes, when they were known as 'secretas'. This form of low, square box on round feet seems to have been standard in Mexico during the 17th and 18th centuries, with various types of rich decoration. This example, though evidently practical for storage and fitted with stout handles, is so richly decorated that it was clearly also a conspicuous display object in its own right. \r\n\r\nThe internal compartments could have served for a variety of smaller, household objects, and the lock adequate to keep the contents secure and private. The internal decoration suggests that the box may have served a devotional purpose, holding a bible or missal for example, and/or writing  materials, in which case the figure of a Franciscan monk would have been a prompt to piety or an aid to devotion. The distinctive stippled paint decoration was applied to paper after it was glued into the box, probably by flicking paint from the hairs of a short brush.","physicalDescription":"Rectangular box of a tropical hardwood, veneered with turtle-shell, an ebonised tropical hardwood and bone, with iron mounts, lock and feet.\r\n\r\nLow, square box on 4 round metal feet, decorated with marquetry in turtle-shell, an ebonised tropical hardwood and bone, worked in a geometric pattern of rhombuses within a dogstooth border, and on the lid surrounding an 8-point star. The casket is fitted with iron corner mounts, two hinges, lockplate (with double-headed eagle) and cast handles which are pierced and cut with stylised scrolls and fixed with irregular round-headed nails. The interior, with a stippled paint effect in red and turquoise on white (with red paint on the exposed top edges), is fitted with dividers to create one large compartment (238 x 342mm) and 3 smaller compartments. The lid underside is painted in colours with a roundel containing a male saint in Franciscan habit, carrying a cross, surrounded by scrolling acanthus and flowers, with pink stain on the lid edges. The bottom of the casket is plain. Four nails are attached to the lid and sides to hold black ribbon retainers for the lid (of which only fragments remain). The veneers vary in thickness between 1.5 and 2.2mm.\n\nConstruction\nOf dovetailed, boarded construction in wood (an unidentified tropical hardwood), presumably with some nails (all the nails except for the base board concealed under the veneers. The bottom consists of 2 boards, grained side to side, nailed or pegged up into the body of the casket. The turtle-shell is backed with an orange painted paper. The paper backing was painted, then applied to the back of the shell and in turn veneered to the substrate. The lid has a batten nailed along each side, and the sides of the box are cut with a rebate to receive the lid. The painted decoration of both box and lid appears to be based on a white ground. The dispersion pattern of the stippled paint decoration indicates that it was applied after the paper was glued into the box, probably by flicking paint from the hairs of a short brush.\n\n","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"wood","id":"AAT11914"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"marquetry","id":"AAT53853"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Tropical hardwood, veneered with turtle shell, an ebonised tropical hardwood and bone, with iron mounts, lock and feet, and painted interior","categories":[{"text":"Containers","id":"THES48972"},{"text":"Woodwork","id":"THES48877"},{"text":"Medieval and renaissance","id":"THES271264"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2013GV1991","2013GV1993","2013GV1990","2006AE6074","2006AE6022","2006AE5980"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"7","id":"THES263054"},"free":"","case":"CA5","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Box","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Mexico","id":"x30050"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Possibly made in Puebla"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1700-1750","earliest":"1700-01-01","latest":"1750-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by Miss Juxon-Jones","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"14","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"22/02/2012","earliest":"2012-02-22","latest":"2012-02-22"},"part":"Base to top of closed lid","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"48.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"22/02/2012","earliest":"2012-02-22","latest":"2012-02-22"},"part":"Base to upper edge of open lid (held upright)","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"39","unit":"cm","qualifier":"approximate","date":{"text":"22/02/2012","earliest":"2012-02-22","latest":"2012-02-22"},"part":"Across front of the casket, including handles","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"37.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"22/02/2012","earliest":"2012-02-22","latest":"2012-02-22"},"part":"Across side from front to back","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Bequeathed by Miss Juxon-Jones, c/o Lieut. Col. J.H. Juxon Jones, Pembridge Gardens Hotel, Notting Hill Gate, London (RF 25/1338); as 'Spanish, 17th century; Good [condition]'\n\nThis type of boldly geometrical marquetry including ebony (or its imitation), ivory/bone and sometimes turtle-shell is found on 17th century Spanish furniture (for example two cabinets, c.1650 in María Paz Aguiló Alonso: El Mueble en España, Siglos XVI - XVII. (Madrid 1993), nos. 225-6, 244-5, and was influenced both by Mudéjar designs (notably the eight-pointed star), and by the use of turtle-shell and ebony on (more elaborate and intricately decorated) Antwerp cabinets of the mid-17th century. \n\n","historicalContext":"The box, though evidently portable and fitted with stout handles, is so richly decorated that it was clearly also a conspicuous display object in its own right. \n\nThe form of low, square box on round feet seems to have been standard in Mexico during the 17th and 18th centuries, with comparable examples decorated in turtle-shell, bone and mirrors (probably for jewelry or cosmetics), and lacquer and gilding (a ballot box) illustrated in Hector Rivero Borrell M., et al., The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico / La grandeza del México virreinal: Treasures from the Museo Franz Mayer (Museo Franz Mayer &amp; Houston Museum of Fine Arts, 2002), nos. 35, 130. Gustavo Curiel asserts that boxes and chests of all kinds were household objects of prime importance, and might be stowed for safety under beds or in secret cubbyholes, when they were known as '<i>secretas</i>' (p. 158).\n\nThe internal compartments could have served for a variety of smaller, household objects, and the lock adequate to keep the contents secure and private. The internal decoration suggests that the box may have served a devotional purpose, holding a bible or missal for example, and/or writing  materials, in which case the figure of a Franciscan monk would have been a prompt to piety or an aid to devotion. It has been suggested (personal communication from Daniela Heinze, Nov. 2014) that the combination of internal compartments may indicate it was intended as a <i>caja escritorio</i> or <i>caja escrbania</i> (writing box) for papers and writing materials.\n\nComparable boxes\nA box similar in form and decoration (external and internal) exists in the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Madrid, inv.no. CE01188 (13 x 37 x 34.2cm), attributed as Mexican 17th century.\n\nBox bone, tortoiseshell and ebony geometric ornament, double-headed eagle lock escutcheon, on four turned bun feet, painted on the inside with St Andrew, 12.5 x 35 x 34cm. Possibly Puebla de los Angeles, Mexico, Late 17th / Early 18th century. Formerly held by Amir Mohtashemi Ltd, London; seen  9/10/2015\n\nArvizu González suggests (p.155) that this style of decoration is characteristic of the city of Puebla, one of the five most important Spanish colonial cities in Mexico, located southeast of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main Atlantic port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two in Central Mexico, and a city where the decorative arts flourished during the 17th century. A casket with domed lid illustrated in Hector Rivero Borrell M., et al., The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico / La grandeza del México virreinal: Treasures from the Museo Franz Mayer (Museo Franz Mayer &amp; Houston Museum of Fine Arts, 2002), no. 22, bears very similar geometrical decoration in wood, turtleshell and bone with traces of gilding, and is described as 17th century, New Spain. Turtleshell decoration (of a different character) is also found on objects made in Campeche 'exported in great quantities to South America' (Hector Rivero Borrell M., et al., The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico / La grandeza del México virreinal: Treasures from the Museo Franz Mayer (Museo Franz Mayer &amp; Houston Museum of Fine Arts, 2002), cat. no. 32).\r\n\nFor a similar box see also León Rodríguez Zahar, Taracea : Islámica y Mudéjar (México : Museo Franz Mayer : Artes de México, 2000) p.43\n\n","briefDescription":"Rectangular box with bone and turtleshell overlay and iron mounts and lock, Mexican, 1700-1750","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Arvizu González, Alfredo D., ed. <u>Franz Mayer: Una Colección</u>. Mexico, Bancreser, 1984. ISBN 9687266007"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Box\r\n1700-50\r\n\r\nThe box draws on several different design traditions. Its form is Mexican but the geometric patterns and eight-pointed star recall much earlier designs from Islamic Spain. The use of turtle shell, backed with painted paper to make it appear a rich, reddish brown, was a technique used by cabinet-makers in Antwerp in the Southern Netherlands, which was under Spanish rule until 1714.\n\nMexico (possibly Puebla)\n\r\nTropical hardwood veneered with turtle shell, ebonised wood and bone; iron mounts\r\n\nBequeathed by Miss Juxon-Jones\r\n","date":{"text":"09.12.2015","earliest":"2015-12-09","latest":"2015-12-09"}}],"partNumbers":["W.19-1925"],"accessionNumberNum":"19","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":1925,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN6527","2019LN8080","2019LU5572","2019LW7893"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-12","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":false}}