New Spanish furniture with geometrical designs: woods, tortoiseshell and bone.

Abstract

Tortoiseshell, precious woods and bone are materials found in furniture made in New Spain decorated with geometrical patterns. Several collections in Mexico, Venezuela, Spain and the United States preserve this type of objects that share similarities in their materials, techniques and decorative designs.Traditionally, these luxury items have been classified as originated in the city of Puebla, but some scholars believe that they were produced in Campeche. My proposal seeks to show my findings so far based on the material evidence and the scarce existing documentation linked to particular pieces. It will allow to trace the present state of the debate and lay the foundations for a more systematic study. Furthermore, it will be necessary to question -again- the inclusion of this sort of material in the meaningless and problematic category of “mudejar” art.