20th Century Arts and Craft Travel Cabinet Bargueno Desk, England, 1920s

The Bargueno is a portable desk. The base is typically Spanish and dates from 20th Century. The upper part was added in the 20th century in England and dates from the Arts and Craft movement. A movement recognizable in its different ornamentations. William Morris, the creator of the Arts and Crafts movement, of the Decorative Arts in England played a great role in the Victorian era in the relationship between art and industry. he is also known for his avant-garde political commitment. He was a manufacturer of furniture and works of art that he designed, publisher and printer, designer of typefaces, but also a business manager. The Arts and Crafts movement, literally “Arts and crafts movement”, is a reforming artistic movement in the fields of architecture, decorative arts, painting and sculpture, born in the United Kingdom in the 1860s and which developed during the years 1880 to 1910, at the end of the Victorian era. He can be considered as the initiator of the Modern style, an Anglo-Saxon competitor of French and Belgian Art Nouveau. The upper part is like a rectangular box which opens on the whole front by a heavy flap. It is placed directly on two retractable posts. Inside we discover twelve vertical and horizontal drawers arranged around a hollow. These drawers as well as the different frames are richly decorated. Very beautiful piece of furniture of very good quality. We discover a long work that it is on the cabinet making or on the ironwork. Opened the Bargueno measures 38,58 inch deep. Very original, decorative and beautiful furniture.