Cabinet, c. 1680–1700
Goa, India
Mahogany, mother-of-pearl, and tortoiseshell
102 x 89 1/2 x 26 in. (259.08 x 227.33 x 66.04 cm)
Gift of The Eugene McDermott Foundation, in honor of Carol and Richard Brettell, 1993.36

This masterpiece of colonial cabinetry is truly a global object. Its form and ornament are derived from European and particularly Spanish prototypes. Yet it was most probably made in the Philippines for a powerful ruler of New Spain who lived in Mexico City. Its first owner was Don Melchor Portocarrero, third count of Monclava, viceroy of New Spain from 1686 until 1688, and viceroy of Peru from 1689 to 1715. He likely commissioned this piece following his arrival in Mexico. At the time, the Philippines were Spanish colonies ruled from Mexico City, and the European and Asian craftsmen in the colonial city of Manila created objects destined for both Europe and New Spain.

Virtually the entire surface of this resplendent cabinet is covered with precious material from the sea. Its shimmering mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell surface is composed of countless carefully cut pieces arranged in elaborate designs representing flowers and vegetation. These designs cover cabinet doors that open to reveal shelves, drawers, and even a dome, all richly veneered with tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, ebony, wood, pewter, and bone. The interior, which adds materials from the earth to those from the sea, features geometric forms. These geometric patterns have double origins in Moorish designs common in pre-Christian Spain and 17th-century marquetry from the Portuguese colony of Goa, in India.

The painted coat of arms framed within a double-headed eagle is that of the Tagle family of Peru, which inherited the cabinet in the late 18th century.