Cabinets & “Salting” Chamber

Due to the renovation works, this chamber has been temporarily converted into a Bedchamber.

Cabinets – of which there are several exemplars in this chamber – are rectangular pieces of furniture, equipped with numerous drawers (sometimes with locks or secret combinations), in which money, jewellery, documents and other small objects of value were stored. Cabinets were initially placed on any table or platform and, later, began to be paired with a table specifically created for the purpose.

In the chamber, one also also find several Chinese porcelain objects and rugs known as “Salting”.

In September 2007, two specialists on Islamic rugs – Michael Franses and John Mills – identified three “Salting” rugs in the Ducal Palace. Their presence in Portugal was a result of following a lead provided by the Parisian antiquarian Armand Deroyan, who had recognized the rugs during a visit to Guimarães some years earlier. “Saltings” are currently among the most expensive and sought-after textiles by collectors worldwide, and those in the Ducal Palace constitute the largest documented set outside the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.

These rugs – like many other objects – were acquired during the Palace reconstruction program by the Department of Monuments (Furniture Acquisition Commission) in the late 1950s. The three rugs were purchased from a prominent textile dealer in London – Mrs. Perez – who had previously been involved in the sale of important textiles from Portuguese collections in the international market.

The designation “Salting” derived from the name of the renowned Australian art collector George Salting (1835-1909) who, in 1909, donated a particularly emblematic exemplar to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

«The rugs identified in the Ducal Palace of the Bragança represent the most significant find in Portugal since 1911, when José de Figueiredo found the magnificent “animals and trees” rug in the Convent of Madre de Deus in Xabregas, considered the “crown jewel” of the textile collection at the M.N.A.A. [National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisboa] nowadays. The intensive research conducted in the study and conservation of the three “Salting” rugs has ensured their preservation for future generations. Finally restored to their former status as great works of Islamic art, the rugs are worthy of the utmost esteem and appreciation as national treasures» (Raquel Santos e Jessica Hallett).