Chest and Key

ClassificationsFurnishings-Furniture-chests

Date17th to 18th Century

Made AtPeru, South America

MediumLeather, wood and iron

DimensionsChest (A): 20 1/2 × 36 × 19 3/4 in. (52.1 × 91.4 × 50.2 cm)
Key (B): 3 5/8 × 1/2 × 1 3/4 in. (9.2 × 1.3 × 4.4 cm)

Credit LineGift of the Nesselrod Family

Object number2020.1.1a,b

DescriptionThis leather chest is most likely Spanish-colonial or South American and was probably manufactured sometime in the 17th or 18th Century. The desired function for a chest such as this would have been storage and transport of delicate and expensive cloth. The chest would have belonged to a person with money who likely did not carry it themselves. The manufacturing of goods with ornate leatherwork was a prosperous economy in South America’s viceregal era. Leather chests and trunks were some of the most regularly made objects. Peru was the leading producer of quality tooled leather chests which were then exported across South America. This may explain how Margrit Nesselrod purchased this chest in Ecuador even though its floral, geometric and zoomorphic avian motifs most greatly resemble 17th Century Spanish Colonial chests from Peru. These chests are generally described as fusions of Spanish, Moorish, and South American influence, which appears to be the case for this chest as well.

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