Traveling Desk (Escritorio)
1 of 7
Object Label
Using woods native to the Andes, the maker of this escritorio (traveling desk) embellished the simple, rectilinear form with popular European motifs such as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as well as lions, stags, unicorns, and dragons. On the desk’s drop front (see illustration), an Indigenous figure in an Andean tunic is trampled by a bull as an African huntsman looks on—a detail that reflects the perceived socio-racial hierarchies maintained by elites of Spanish descent in the Americas.
Caption
Traveling Desk (Escritorio), early 18th century. Cedar or walnut, citrus and other wood inlays, and iron, 9 1/4 x 16 3/8 x 12 in. (23.5 x 41.6 x 30.5 cm) installed dims with BCD m-1 primary mount: 20 x 16 3/4 x 14 in. (50.8 x 42.5 x 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Leo E. Fleischman, 45.175.5. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 45.175.5_PS4.jpg)
Title
Traveling Desk (Escritorio)
Date
early 18th century
Geography
Possible place made: Moxos Region, Bolivia, Possible place made: Moxos region, Peru
Medium
Cedar or walnut, citrus and other wood inlays, and iron
Classification
Dimensions
9 1/4 x 16 3/8 x 12 in. (23.5 x 41.6 x 30.5 cm) installed dims with BCD m-1 primary mount: 20 x 16 3/4 x 14 in. (50.8 x 42.5 x 35.6 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Leo E. Fleischman
Accession Number
45.175.5
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at