Traveling Altar
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Elite Spanish American families who shuttled between town and country residences included movable folding furniture and objects—portable beds, tables, and traveling scroll paintings and altars—among their indispensable luggage. This traveling altar, which folds to form a leather-bound trunk to protect its rich silk damask interior, was made for the Peruvian noble family of Ignacio Nieto Peñaloza y Roa, who in 1769 was named count of Alastaya. This title is spelled out in brass tacks on the trunk’s exterior (see illustration).
En sus viajes entre la ciudad y sus residencias campestres, las familias de la élite de Hispanoamérica llevaban muebles y objetos plegables—camas portátiles, mesas, pinturas y altares de viaje—entre su equipaje indispensable. Este altar de viaje, que se pliega para formar un baúl forrado en cuero que protege su rico interior de seda adamascada, fue hecho para la familia del noble peruano Ignacio Nieto Peñaloza y Roa, quien en 1769 fue nombrado conde de Alastaya. Este título se enuncia en tachuelas de cobre sobre el exterior del baúl (ver ilustración).
Caption
Traveling Altar, 1769–ca. 1820. Cedar, partially covered with leather; iron and brass hardware; interior lined with replacement yellow silk; and metal wire trim., Open: 88 x 60 1/2 x 20 in. (223.5 x 153.7 x 50.8 cm) Closed: 21 x 48 x 23 in. (53.3 x 121.9 x 58.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, Frank Sherman Benson Fund, Carll H. de Silver Fund, A. Augustus Healy Fund, Caroline A.L. Pratt Fund, Charles Stewart Smith Memorial Fund, and Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund, 48.206.11. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 48.206.11_SL3.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Title
Traveling Altar
Date
1769–ca. 1820
Medium
Cedar, partially covered with leather; iron and brass hardware; interior lined with replacement yellow silk; and metal wire trim.
Classification
Dimensions
Open: 88 x 60 1/2 x 20 in. (223.5 x 153.7 x 50.8 cm) Closed: 21 x 48 x 23 in. (53.3 x 121.9 x 58.4 cm)
Credit Line
Frank L. Babbott Fund, Frank Sherman Benson Fund, Carll H. de Silver Fund, A. Augustus Healy Fund, Caroline A.L. Pratt Fund, Charles Stewart Smith Memorial Fund, and Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund
Accession Number
48.206.11
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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