Madrid-Mallorca-Barcelona. Furniture for a Royal Union

Abstract

In 1802 the heir to the Spanish crown and his sister María Isabel married their cousins, the prince of Naples and Sicily and his sister María Antonia. Being the wedding in Barcelona, the court had to move there, with the logistical problem that this represented. Part of the magnificent furniture that was made for the occasion in Madrid is largely known. However, some years ago I brought to light some furniture designs that seemed to have been made in Mallorca for this event and I was able to identify with some furniture from the royal collection. Fortunately, all the documentation related to this order has appeared and confirms many of the suggestive aspects of this unknown production system, confirming who commissioned it, why in Mallorca, what cabinetmaker, under what conditions, with what deadlines, for what price and even by what criteria some of them were rejected.