A viceregal chair, "frailero" type. Peru, first half of the 18th century.

A viceregal chair, "frailero" type.
Peru, first half of the 18th century.
Carved wood and embossed leather.

Dimensions: 105 x 64 x 50 cm.

It stands on four high wooden legs. The fronts are carved with a vegetal ornament, a very frequent motif in European baroque furniture that, however, here, due to the influence of local art, adopts more rounded shapes, far from classical hieraticism. The motifs worked on the leather reveal the same mix of influences, which translates into distinctly European elements, such as struts and cornucopias, captured with a totally different plastic, which reflects the taste for ornamentation typical of the Baroque through its own formulas. .
The Viceroyalty of Peru had a geographical extension that exceeded the limits of the Inca Empire, reaching, at a given moment of the Hispanic presence, from the Isthmus of Panama to the southern tip of South America. The political power was centralized in Lima and its decorative wealth was legendary.