This exceptional dais table1, a type of furniture recorded in contemporaryPortuguese documents as bufete, dates from the second halfof the sixteenth century or the first decades of the seventeenthcentury. Likely made in Thane (in present-day Maharashtra) inthe then Northern Province of the Portuguese State of India, near Bombay, it represents the best marquetry furniture produced inthis town under Portuguese rule.Made from teak (Tectona grandis) and thickly veneered inebony (Diospyros ebenum), with solid Indian rosewood (Dalbergialatifolia) legs, it is masterfully decorated with ivory, green-dyedbone, rosewood and sandalwood (Santalum album) inlays securedwith brass pins. The gilt-copper fittings include openwork cornerbraces protecting the corners of the top, pierced openwork escutcheon-shaped lock plates, swirl pulls on the drawers’ fronts,and decorative domed nails.The decoration on the table’s exuberant top, following acarpet-like composition, features a large central field with a centralmedallion boasting a polylobate, Islamic-style rosette flankedby flowering plants emerging from pots. The field is bordered bya wide border of floral sprays with stylised flowers, with crowneddouble-headed eagles set at the corners. The double-headed eagle,known locally as gandabherunda, is a Hindu mythological bird imbued with magical strength used to ward off evil and protect the preciousobjects stored inside the drawers below. Between the central fieldand the wide border there are narrow borders with ivory rosettesset at tight intervals, a type of frieze used throughout the table,notably on the feet and stretchers. The wide border’s floral decorationis also deployed on the front of the two drawers and on thesides of the waist of the table, in panels with ivory rosette friezes.The legs and stretchers follow a European prototype, whilethe feet take the form of jatayuh, the vulture associated with Rama.Jatayuh (literally ‘strong wind’) is the ‘devout bird’ of Rama and aHindu demi-god. The king of the vultures as portrayed in the epicRamayana, jatayuh is the youngest son of Aruna, the vehicle of thesun-god Surya. This depiction, as with the double-headed eagles,has a clear apotropaic function, warding off evil.This type of luxurious furniture was prevalent in the interiorsof European noble and patrician households and portable writingand table cabinets, alongside tables and smaller dais tables of thistype were a basic requirement for European officials, merchantsand traders living and travelling in Asia.2Small and precious, these were made in Asia with exoticand expensive materials and were much admired and avidly soughtafter in Europe due not only to their appealing design but also to their technical perfection. Given that sixteenth-century Portugueserecords mention the village of Taná, or Thane—today part of thecity of Mumbai (Bombay)—in which a large community of Muslimcraftsmen flourished, as the origin of precious marquetry furniture,it is highly probable that the centre of production of this daistable was precisely Thane, then part of the Northern Province ofthe Portuguese State of India.3 The present dais table belongs to an exceptional group ofrare, early furniture made for the Portuguese market, which hasonly recently been securely identified in terms of its geographicalorigin, decorative sources of inspiration (Iranian, Ottoman, andEuropean) and historical context of production.4

HMC


1 A table that was placed on top of platforms, usually the height of a step, covered with rich carpets. Commonly used in Portugal, a country with Islamic roots, it was where the ladies ofthe court sat, propped up on cushions, for various tasks such as embroidery, writing, reading and conversation. Its use can be found in various documents from the 16th century and itsreference extends mainly to the end of the 18th century.

2 See Jaffer, Amin, Luxury Goods from India. The Art of the Cabinet-Maker, London, V&A Publications, 2002; and Dias, Pedro, Mobiliário Indo-Português, Moreira de Cónegos, Imaginalis, 2006.

3 On Portuguese-ruled Thane, see Mendiratta, Sidh Losa, ‘Two Towns and a Villa. Baçaim, Chaul and Taná: The Defensive Structure of Three Indo-Portuguese Settlements in NorthernProvince of the Estado da Índia’, in Sharma, Yogesh, Malenkandathil, Pius (eds.), Medieval Cities in India, New Delhi, Primus Books, 2014, pp. 805–814.

4 See Hugo Crespo, Miguel, Choices, Lisboa, AR-PAB, 2016, pp. 136–171, cat. 15; Idem, India in Portugal. A Time of Artistic Confluence (cat.), Oporto, Bluebook, 2021, pp. 88–104; and Idem,From the Northern Province. Marquetries and ‘Lacquerware’ from Portuguese India, Lisbon, São Roque Antiguidades & Galeria de Arte, 2024, pp. 8–24.