14 
House & Garden 
case with either of 
the other bases. In 
structure the vargueno 
was a rectangular 
box with one side 
hinged at the bottom 
so as to let down, 
thus forming a fall¬ 
ing front. Sliding 
supports were pro¬ 
vided on the stand • 
which, when pulled 
out, held up the drop 
front. Within, the 
whole side, or rather 
the whole front, was 
taken up with rows 
of small drawers and 
possibly a door in the 
center concealing still 
other small drawers 
or a pigeonhole for 
large papers. 
Upon comparing 
the illustrat ions 
showing the vargueno 
cabinet both closed 
and open, it will be 
seen that the type of 
decoration inside was 
totally different from, 
and usually far richer 
than, the method of em¬ 
bellishment employed 
outside. And this dif¬ 
ference was characteris¬ 
tic. While the exterior 
was generally of plain 
walnut or chestnut 
adorned with fretted and 
gilded wrought iron 
mounts, underlaid with 
pieces of red velvet, the 
interior was oftentimes 
gorgeous and fairly 
blazing with gold, color 
and bone inlay engraved 
in vermilion or black 
with arabesque, leaf or 
flower motifs or, some¬ 
times, with figures of 
animals or birds. As the 
illustrations fully show 
the structure and man- 
Fig. 5. Chests were 
important articles in 
Spain. The inside 
lid of this one is 
boldly painted 
Fig. 6. .4 low wal¬ 
nut cupboard of the 
\6th or early 17 th 
Century. The 
shelves upon it are 
of a later date 
Fig. 1 hails from 
the Basque prov¬ 
inces and the \lth 
Century. A carved 
oak corner cup¬ 
board 
ner of decoration, it is 
unnecessary to dwell 
further upon either; it 
is enough to state that 
both came from the 
Moors as the antece¬ 
dent source of inspira¬ 
tion. When the var- 
gue/lo cabinet was the 
only important piece 
of furniture, it is easy 
to understand how such 
efforts should have 
been concentrated upon 
it that it was bound to 
produce an effect of un¬ 
usual enrichment. It 
is also easy, in view of 
this splendor and poise, 
to understand how it 
came to have the air of 
sufficiency, a 1 r e ady 
mentioned, and why it 
is better that it should 
not be crowded with 
other pieces nowadays 
in arranging the fur¬ 
nishing of a room. 
Closely akin in gen¬ 
eral structure to the 
vargueno is the papelera 
shown on the stand in 
Figure 14, the chief struc¬ 
tural difference being that 
the papelera has no drop 
front and could not have 
been used for writing 
purposes. It was intended 
merely for a cabinet and 
was used for the safe 
keeping of papers and 
other small odds and ends, 
for the accommodation of 
which its numerous draw¬ 
ers were provided. A pa¬ 
pelera, in fact, is any 
small cabinet-like piece 
containing n u m erous 
small drawers for papers 
and sundries. Another 
papelera, of walnut with 
gilt iron mounts, is seen 
in Figure 4. 
(Continued on page 64) 
Fig. 8. The “miller’s wheel” motif 
shows under the cornice and on the 
base drawer fronts 
Fig. 9. The spiral twisted posts indicate Portu¬ 
guese influence. 17 th Century, from the island 
of Majorca 
Fig. 10. Carved walnut press or cup¬ 
board showing a tendency to many small 
panels 
