Historically significant cypress wood made chest (Cupressus semprevirens),1 characterised by the elaborate pyrography decorativecomposition that fills its frontal surface. Made in Italy, and destinedto the English market, it was produced during the reign of KingCharles I (r. 1625–1649) and belongs to a group of case furniturewhose manufacture has often been attributed to the Archipelagoof the Azores, but which in fact originates from a distinct northernItalian production centre.2Parallelepiped in shape, it features a flat hinged top formedby four joined boards which, as is common in this production,extend over the sides in a protruding edge, contrary to the backand rear edges which align along the chest width. The simple caselock, with no bolt or other visible outer elements, is contemporary to the chest making and fitted to its inner surface. The four caseelevations, whose upper edges are decorated by simple punchedmotifs, are assembled at the angles by chromatically alternatingjoints. Contrary to other analogous extant examples, our chest,featuring an inner storage lidded tray to its right-hand side, doesnot include a stand, therefore sitting directly on the ground.The chest’s particular importance is justified by the pyrographediconography that fills the entirety of its front panel.Obtained by burning the decorative motifs onto the wood surfacewith heated metal tools, this contrasting ornamental techniquethat enhances the cypress warm honey tones, creates three sectionsof classical architectural elements framed by decorative friezes ofgeometric and foliage motifs, which present an unusual combinationof heraldic motifs and insignia.Standing out from the larger central section, the RoyalCrest of Arms for England, Scotland and Ireland wrapped in theGarter, the most senior Order of Chivalry in the British Honorifichierarchy, featuring the order’s motto ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense’.These elements are surmounted by the crown and the monogramcr, and flanked by a crowned rampant lion and unicorn, as it wascustomary during the various Stuart dynasty reigns between 1603and 1707. This composition sits on a banner with the British monarchymotto ‘Dieu et mon droit’, alluding to the monarch’s divineright to rule. São Roque keeps in its archive a print dated 1616 thatdoes feature an identical armorial shield (Fig. 1).3This central arrangement is flanked by two smaller rectangularpanels centred by round arches resting on columns that featuresequences of superimposed pointed arches and plain capitals, fromwhich stand out exuberant double-headed eagles.In spite of its early 17th century origin, the chest’s Renaissance periods. The classicism of decoration, as well as theheraldic references and associated inscriptions, hint at a form ofpolitical and personal affirmation still common in this period.Absorbed from Flemish prints, or other European erudite sources,is the characteristic Renaissance repertoire of dragons, birds, dogs,lions and foliage motifs.During the 17th century reigns of King James I (James VIof Scotland), Charles I and Charles II, a period encompassing thesecond phase of the Renaissance in England, furniture was profoundlyimpacted by both Italian and Flemish prototypes, mainlymade in oak and featuring sober decorative elements and heraldicmotifs, whose presence had emerged in the previous century.This taste is also clearly evident in a significant number of Italianimported chests, following the prototypes from the well-knowncassone produced in Milan and Venice from the medieval periodonward, of incised, pyrographed and coloured decoration and, as is the case with the chest herewith described, made in cypress wood,a timber that was much-appreciated in England.The crowned monogram cr for Carolus Rex identifies it asbelonging to King Charles I of England. This ownership mark wasused on the art objects from the Monarch’s collections and, in additionto the chest herewith described, it is also present on the backof a painting by Osias Beert (ca. 1580–1624), formerly in the King’scollection,4 and presently also with São Roque, Lisbon (Fig. 2). Inaddition to the former monogram, this painting does also feature themonogram hp for Henricus Princeps (Charles I elder brother and Princeof Wales between 1594 and 1612), who, on his premature death oftyphus aged 18, opened the path for Charles ascension to the throne.Besides their role as storage for 17th century dowries, chestswere also used for transporting textiles, a commodity widely exportedby England. During Charles I reign, the King himself acollector and admirer of such luxury goods, the presence of this furniture typology increased substantially in royal palaces interiors,a fact that reflects the taste instilled by the monarch ontothe crown estate.5 Considering Charles I interest for textiles, it isalso possible to suggest that these chests may have been used ascontainers for diplomatic gifts.Contemporary Stuart inventories mention many cypressmade chests, probably of Italian origin, that were used to store bedlinens and clothing belonging to the queen, while also referringtheir good quality and resistance against damp and moth damage.6The double headed eagle corresponds to an iconography thatwas used in the distant past by the Hittite Emperors in Anatolia,and later, in the 13th century, by the sovereigns of the last Byzantinedynasty, the Palaeologus. In the same century it was also the attributeof Frederick I, Barbarossa, adopted by the succeeding HolyRoman Emperors. It would become widely used from the mid-15thcentury onwards in the Austro-Hungarian and Russian contexts.7It is also associated to the Spanish Habsburg rulers as the insignia taken by King Carlos I of Spain, himself Holy Roman Emperor asCarlos V. In the 17th century this Imperial Christian symbol becamealso increasingly adopted by Religious Orders as their heraldic, aswas the case with the Augustinians.8Although it is admissible that this specific attribute is purelydecorative, it can also be a reference to the ties established betweenthe Anglican and the continental Protestant Churches. Toreinforce the links between his kingdom, and the protestant HolyRoman Empire princes, in 1619 James I succeeded in marrying hisdaughter Elizabeth Stuart, sister to Charles, Prince of Wales andlater Charles I, to Frederick V, Elector Palatinate, who reigned asKing of Bohemia. Their particularly short reign would earn themthe sobriquet ‘Winter King’ and ‘Winter Queen’.This type of chests has overtime been identified as ofPortuguese production for their similarities with contemporaryAzorean chests.9 The latter however, are mostly made in juniperand cedarwood with incised decoration, the grooves outlining the patterns cut into the wood and filled with bees wax darkened withgrounded gallnut,10 as is recorded in contemporaneous extantdocuments that do also refer the numerous carpentry workshopsin the Azorean city of Angra do Heroísmo.11Various other sources do corroborate the existence ofsuch workshops dedicated to the exporting of chests to Spain,Flanders and particularly to England, carried by English merchantstrading via regional Azorean routes,12 considering thatsome depicting the heraldic for Queen Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603),King James I (r. 1603–1625) and King Charles I (r. 1625–1649), havebeen located. It is thus possible to identify two groups of chests ofdistinct Portuguese and Italian origins, both destined to exportingto England and rivalling for their erudition, with the English oakmade furniture.These variants diverge both on material and on technicallevels, not only for their distinct raw materials, but for the factthat the Italian cypress planks were thicker than those of Azoreanjuniper or cedar and exhibited a characteristic reddish colour thatcontrasts with the yellow tone of the cedar, an autochthonousresinous tree. Equally distinct are the decorative techniques as, contrary to the incised motifs of Azorean attributed chests, theItalian feature pyrographic decoration, a technique in which thedesign outlines are shallower.Related chests can be seen in major English and Portuguesemuseum collections such as at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga inLisbon, or at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which hasin its collection a very similar chest to the ones herewith described,but resting on a stand instead.
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1 The cypress was introduced to the eastern Mediterranean in antiquity, from Persia and Asia Minor (Turkey). Its use flourished in Europe during the Renaissance, having a special meaning in Italy.
2 Information based on research developed by historian Dr. Pedro Pascoal de Melo, who kindly assisted us in the classification of this chest as originating from a non-Azorean production centre.
3 We would like to thank Dr. Pedro Pascoal de Melo for this identification. The publication of the ‘Theatrum imperii Magnae Britanniae, ...’, by Jonh Speed, London, 1616. J. Sudbury andG. Humble, belonged to Gaston d’Orléans, uncle to King Louis XIV of France, who owned an important library that would be integrated in the French state (in 1666, the Printed Bookscollection), including also some gems from the Duke of Buckingham library. It must be referred that King Charles I married Henrietta Maria, sister to King Louis XIII of France, in 1625.
4 His taste for art collecting was reinforced by his visit to Madrid to admire the Spanish Royal collection of paintings.
5 Fastnedge, Ralph, English Furniture Styles: From 1500–1830, Penguin Books, 1961, p.3, pp. 32–35.
6 The Diary of John Evelyn, 1666 (In Macquoid, Percy, Edwards, Ralph, The Dictionary of English Furniture: From The Middle Ages to The Late Georgian Period, 1954, Vol 2, p. 17.
7 Insignia adopted by Ivan III of Russia upon his marriage to Byzantine Princess Sophia, from the Palaiologos Dinasty, inheriting the crest of arms to represent Russia as the ‘third Rome’heir to the both the Eastern and Western Empires.
8 Trindade, Joelson B., O Império dos Mil Anos e a arte do ‘tempo barroco’: a águia bicéfala como emblema da Cristandade, Anais do Museu Paulista. São Paulo. N. Sér. v. 18. no. 2. p. 11–91.jul.–dez. 2010.
9 Bernardo Ferrão refers the earlier identification of incised decoration furniture by Arthur de Sandão, Maria Helena Mendes Pinto, Irene Quilhó (Ferrão, Bernardo, Mobiliário Português, dosPrimórdios ao Maneirismo, Vol. IV, Oporto, 1990, pp. 3–5). The wood selected for the manufacture of one of these pieces of furniture was scientifically analysed, confirming its geographicorigin (Pimentel, António Filipe, Borges de Sousa, Maria da Conceição, Mobiliário Português, MNAA, 2019, p.17).