A SPANISH WALNUT CENTRE TABLE, 17TH CENTURY

The present table embodies the characteristics of Spanish furniture: sobriety and a serenity of line. Perhaps the most authentic form of Spanish furniture, the trestle table features a thick slab of walnut with iron fasteners or fiadores springing from the chambrana (stretcher) which joins each pair of feet terminating with a scroll. Practicality certainly determined the structure of this piece of furniture, tables like this could be moved and transported very easily. But as the structure became perfected from the early 17^th century, the form became purer and decorative element were added, as the present features carved stylized foliage along the legs and boldly carved stretchers. Related examples are illustrated in L. Feduchi, El Mueble Español, 1969, p. 112 and a very similar table was sold Christie's London, 9 November 2006, lot 352.