Art Institute of Chicago
Coffer
Peruvian
- Date
- c. 1750
- Medium
- Wood, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, silver, glass, and paint
- Culture
- Lima department
- Department
- Applied Arts of Europe
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
This coffer, or box, reflects a blending of designs: octagonal spice boxes from India; inlay techniques of mother-of-pearl from Japan; and in the interior, gold-painted scenes—a hut, figures, and birds in an imaginary landscape—from Chinese lacquer screens. Lima craftsmen absorbed all of these influences from the traffic of Asian goods through the Philippines and other Spanish Pacific colonies. This piece served as a receptacle for jewelry, combs, and other materials for a member of colonial Peru’s wealthy class to prepare at their toilet, a European aristocratic morning custom of formally donning dress, cosmetics, and jewelry that found its way to the Americas.
The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Linked open data
Authority identifiers that link this record into the wider web of cultural data — stable references you can follow to the source.
- Object type
- AAT300411641
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