O mobiliário precioso luso-asiático e as colecções renascentistas (kunstkammern)

The study of furniture as a collector's phenomenon has yet to be properly explored, while being deemed secondary to other decorative arts. There is, however, a very specific type of furniture, related to the so-called 'adventure of knowledge' brought by the Age of Discovery that, not only by this fact but given the materials used, its exoticism, the original character of its decoration, the methods employed in its craftsmanship, the innovation depicted by its shapes and forms, the originality of its metal fittings, its boldness, richness, freshness, colour, and detail deserves to be emphasized from the rest and lacks specific treatment from the collector's point of view. Not only for these motives, but also by its symbolism and the meaning of power and splendour that it represents, through the social and political highlight that is often attributed to its owner. This type of furniture, even if small in size, such as small boxes, caskets or cabinets, occupies a very important part of the “Chamber of Wonders” that marks the sixteenth century. Transported in the ships that arrived in Lisbon, they spread throughout Europe as glorified objects, representing a New World that was at the reach of very few and was embedded with mysteries, with myths and legends, and often serving as proof of its existence and truth. In order to discuss a true collector's practice regarding this kind of furniture, the right conditions must be assured. That is: a special aptitude for its pursuit and acquisition, a noble class drawn to this class of objects, a significant offer and organized production centres, a web of specialized commerce, merchants aware of this demand, client orders and someone to orient them at the origins, and also specialized agents towards this type of furniture and its distribution from Lisbon to the rest of Europe. Many of the great European families at the time had their own buyers based in Lisbon. Not having documented proof that these agents were looking for Luso-Oriental furniture, if they were searching for jewellery, bezoars and precious stones at the Rua Nova dos Mercadores in Lisbon, they would certainly not be indifferent to a tortoiseshell casket or to an ivory casket. Much less a cabinet, especially designed to keep and store these objects. We have no doubt, given the number of these objects known today, that they were heavily manufactured, mainly in the sixteenth century. Simultaneously, we do not doubt the rarity of some of these objects for the opposite reason, as they rarely, if ever, were recorded in any inventory. We can state, without fear that this type of furniture spread through Renaissance Europe. We find it in important European collections, as well as in Royal collections. Gift giving of this type of objects was frequent amongst noble and royal families, and the most eloquent example in Europe is Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal. We have tried to demonstrate the importance of the Iberian nook in the genesis of the “Kunstkammern” and the great exotic collections in Renaissance Europe.