An Indo-Portuguese Contador or Standing Cabinet, Probably Goa, India, second half 17th century

the chest of typical rectangular form, comprising ten short drawers, two of which are double depth, the stand with two short and one long drawer, decorated throughout with finely inlaid interlacing circular motifs, with pierced openwork brass handles and backplates, standing on four large carved female figures carved as mermaids, pierced side handles and upper corner mounts decorated ensuite

In good overall condition, some small losses and areas of repair, a few small replacement parts, seven drawers with new wood to interiors, lock plates and handles original, leg bases replaced, a few scratches and scuffs consistent with age, two upper drawers with replacement inlay, otherwise good, as viewed.
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Embodying the outstanding quality of Indo-Portuguese craftsmanship, this type of standing cabinet or contador blends the traditionally Western form of the cabinet-on-stand with certain ornaments and elements of design particular to the Indian subcontinent.

The cabinet is decorated throughout with a repeating pattern of interlacing circular motifs, each finely inlaid with bone and ebony insets in the shape of rotated squares and four-pointed stars. This design can be found in a number of articles produced in Portuguese India and is present on a comparable cabinet now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (Amin Jaffer, Luxury Goods from India, London, 2002, pp.58-9, no.22). Further analogous examples include a contador of similar form published in Pedro Dias, O contador das cenas familiares, Porto, 2002, p.57, and a small cabinet recently exhibited in Lisbon (Jorge Flores and Nuno Vassallo e Silva (eds.), Goa and the Great Mughal, Lisbon, 2004, p.111, cat.117).

A close look at each of the stand's legs reveals the sculpted form of a woman bearing a bindi, which collectively—like Classical caryatids—support the object's structure. Some scholars have drawn parallels between similar male and female forms and the Hindu snake divinities known as nagas. These mystical creatures have the upper body of a human and the lower body of a sea serpent, and are considered to bring good fortune and protection.

The attribution of this type of furniture to the Portuguese colony of Goa is, as mentioned by Jaffer (op.cit., p.57) and Fernanda Castro Freire (Fernando Castro Freire, 50 dos Melhores Móveis Portugueses, Lisbon, 1995, p.54), related to the presence of stylistically similar pieces in the sacristy of the Basílica do Bom Jesus in Old Goa. Nevertheless, it is important to bear in mind the observation made by chief chronicler António Bocarro, who in 1635 noted the manufacturing of contadores and other furniture of outstanding quality in Taná, a Portuguese settlement in the outskirts of Bombay (António Bocarro, O Livro das plantas de todas as Fortalezas, Cidades e Povoações do Estado da Índia Oriental, (1635), Isabel Cid (ed.), Lisbon, 1992, vol.II, p.115). Dias suggests that the denomination 'of Goa' could actually refer to production in these workshops (Dias, op.cit., pp.57-8).