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The D. Duarte de Menezes Writing Chest, c. 1550-1588

Exhibited by São Roque, Lisbon

Material Lacquered and gilded wood; wrought iron fittings

Dimensions 13.6 x 39.8 x 29.5 cm

Place of Creation Kingdom of Pegu (Burma, present-day Myanmar)

Status Vetted

About the Work

Exhib.: Os Construtores do Oriente Português, Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, Porto 1998 (cat. p. 303).

A rare and significant writing chest which bears a handwritten inscription on the underside of its drawer. Positioned above a schematic drawing of a carrack, the inscription reads: "The illustrious Duarte de Meneses, Viceroy of India, bought (?) it”, inferring the piece belonged to Duarte de Meneses (1537–1588), the 14th Viceroy of the Portuguese State of India (r. 1584-1588). A palaeographic analysis suggests the inscription dates to the last decades of the 16th century/early 17th century.

Given its importance as a documented example of the late sixteenth-century consumption of this type of Burmese lacquerware by the Portuguese, this chest has been published by several authors and featured in exhibitions.

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