Desk Drawer
Author: Unknown
Origin: Unknown
Dating: 17th century
Material: Wood (Teak & Ebony), Brass & Ivory
Dimensions (cm): 16,3 x 38,9 x 31
Inv. no.: PD0052
The Portuguese presence in India had social, economic, political, religious and artistic effects. Indo-Portuguese art is considered a fusion of different cultural elements. Indo-Portuguese objects were influenced by Portuguese art – the structures – and Indian art – seeing the techniques and materials in use. They were made by local craftsmen in Indian Portuguese possessions – Daman, Goa and Cochin – between the 16th and 18th centuries.
The term Indo-Portuguese originated in the late 1870s and, in 1881, John Charles Robinson used it for the first time to catalogue an artistic object in the “Catalogue of the special loan exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese ornamental art” of the Victoria and Albert Museum (London).
