This large, imposing two-door cabinet on a stand is constructedfrom teak (Tectona grandis), veneered with Ceylon ebony (Diospyrosebenum), and decorated with East Indian rosewood (Dalbergialatifolia), sandalwood (Santalum album), elephant ivory, and greendyedbone inlays, all secured with small brass pins. It was likelyproduced in the Portuguese-ruled village of Thane.The sumptuous inlaid decoration is further highlighted bynumerous pierced openwork fire-gilt copper fittings, includingcorner braces, escutcheon-shaped lock plates, drawer pulls, hinges,cast spiralled handles for the sides and large stand drawers, andswirling, large dome-shaped nails.This exceptional piece of furniture comprises two sections:a caisson fitted with two doors and many drawers on the inside,and an elaborate stand, with an arched void lower section andtwo drawers above.The caisson is intricately decorated on all sides, except forthe back and underside, following a carpet-like composition. Alldecorated exterior sides feature wide borders of repeating flowering plants arranged symmetrically, framed by a narrow outer borderof ivory quatrefoils and, inside, two friezes: one of alternatingquatrefoils in ivory and lozenges in rosewood and sandalwood, andthe other chequered in ebony and ivory. The central fields featurea seamless isometric cube pattern, alternating ebony, green-dyedbone, and ivory. The top is similarly decorated, but its central fieldis divided into three panels: a large flowering plant in the middle,and two panels of the cube pattern on either side.When opened, the interior of the doors follows a similarcarpet-like scheme, with a wide border of repeating floweringplants and narrower framing bands, but with a figurative squarecentral field. Flanking a large flowering plant—blooming withdifferently shaped flowers and enlivened by perched birds—aretwo figures in local dress, male and female, underscoring the nuptialcharacter of this and other luxury pieces made for export inPortuguese-ruled Asia.The cabinet reveals twelve drawers set in four rows, withtwo square drawers at the sides occupying the two central rows.
The drawer fronts replicate the same carpet-like composition, withnarrow quatrefoil friezes, and central fields with flowering plantsflanked by deer—either in pairs or chased by tigers—on the toprow; pairs of peafowl and pelicans on the two central rows; localcouples on the two square drawers; and hunting scenes on thelower row depicting Portuguese nobleman shooting or brandishingspears at rampant tigers.The open, arched stand features two large drawers in theupper section, their fronts decorated with paired flowering plants,while the spandrels are adorned with flowering branches. Thevoided interior the same type of wide floral border on the sides ofthe caisson. The legs, carved from solid rosewood and inlaid withivory, sandalwood, and green-dyed bone, take the form of nāgiņī—mythical beings depicted with the head and torso of a woman,with piercing ivory inlaid eyes, touching their breasts, symbolisingfertility, and coiled serpents as their lower bodies.In Hindu culture, nāgas and their female counterparts,nāgiņī, are revered nature spirits associated with water. They areconsidered protectors of springs and wells, propitiators of rain, andsymbols of fertility.1 The nāgiņī also serve an apotropaic function,warding off evil and protecting the valuables stored within such furniture. The coiled lower bodies of the nāgiņī rest on squareprisms decorated with flowering plants.Given that sixteenth-century Portuguese records mentionthe village of Taná, or Thane—today part of the city of Mumbai(Bombay)—as home to a flourishing community of Muslim craftsmenand a centre for producing precious marquetry furniture, it ishighly probable that this cabinet originated in Thane, then part ofthe Northern Province of the Portuguese State of India.2This exquisite two-door cabinet on a stand belongs to anexceptional group of rare early furniture made for the Portuguesemarket, whose geographical origin, decorative inspirations (Iranian,Ottoman, and European), and historical production context haveonly recently been identified.3

HMC

1 Oldham, Charles F., ‘The Nāgas. A Contribution to the History of Serpent-Worship’, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 33 (1901), pp. 461–473.

2 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.

3 Crespo, Hugo Miguel, Choices, Lisbon, 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.