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This folding screen was made in the Viceroyalty of New Spain (now Mexico) in the mid-18th century for export to Spain. It is also known as a biombo, a Spanish transliteration of the Japanese word byo-bu that figuratively means "protection against the wind.” Inspired by the Chinese and Japanese folding screens that arrived in New Spain (now Mexico) through transpacific trade with Asia, biombos were frequently used in private homes in the region, as proven by various inventories dated to the 17th and 18th centuries. These pieces of furniture served to divide spaces, provide privacy in a bedroom or as a background in the gentlemans’ or ladies’ sitting rooms.
Decorated in gold with a vermilion background, this example is one of a group of Novohispanic screens that imitated Chinese lacquering, using oil paints in place of lacquer. This 15-panel screen consists of two parts, one with 8 and one with 7 leaves. The front contains elaborate decorations that include various coats of arms from Spanish noble houses, portraits of noblemen, and mythological scenes taken from the famous 8th century C.E. poem Metamorphoses, a chronicle of classical mythology and history by the Roman poet Ovid. The back panels display a simpler decoration of figures, animals and ruins set in landscapes, as well as images of exotic fruits from the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Each of the 15 individual panels have five unique images, with each panel painted on both sides. All 75 unique images have a decorative floral gilded border, which seems to have been painted by multiple hands –a common practice in the New Spanish artisan guild system. This biombo appears unique in that it is the only known example where the painted panels are set back in a frame, while the other, published biombos’ surfaces are in plane with the frame. Due to the biombo’s similarities with the polychrome aspects of some sculptural works from the 18th century workshop Taller de los Cora in Puebla, Mexico, the dealers date the object to the 1750s.
A wood sample analysis conducted by ARTE-LAB S.L., a Madrid-based conservation and scientific research lab, confirms that the object is made with ayacahuite pine, a species of wood native to Mexico, thus affirming the place where this object was made
View: Recto
Pair of Biombos (Folding Screens)
mid-18th century
Medium/Technique
Oil on wood panels
Dimensions
Panel dimensions at optimal display: 8 ft (length) x 7 ft (height) x 9 in. (depth)
Optimal display dimensions for 2024.3623.1-2: 15 ft (length), 7 ft (height), 9 in. (depth)
Each individual panel is 13 5/8” wide, +/- 1/8; and 1” deep, +/- 1/16”.
Optimal display dimensions for 2024.3623.1-2: 15 ft (length), 7 ft (height), 9 in. (depth)
Each individual panel is 13 5/8” wide, +/- 1/8; and 1” deep, +/- 1/16”.
Credit Line
Henry H. and Zoe Oliver Sherman Fund
Accession Number2024.3623.1-2
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsFurniture – Tables, stands, screens
This folding screen was made in the Viceroyalty of New Spain (now Mexico) in the mid-18th century for export to Spain. It is also known as a biombo, a Spanish transliteration of the Japanese word byo-bu that figuratively means "protection against the wind.” Inspired by the Chinese and Japanese folding screens that arrived in New Spain (now Mexico) through transpacific trade with Asia, biombos were frequently used in private homes in the region, as proven by various inventories dated to the 17th and 18th centuries. These pieces of furniture served to divide spaces, provide privacy in a bedroom or as a background in the gentlemans’ or ladies’ sitting rooms.
Decorated in gold with a vermilion background, this example is one of a group of Novohispanic screens that imitated Chinese lacquering, using oil paints in place of lacquer. This 15-panel screen consists of two parts, one with 8 and one with 7 leaves. The front contains elaborate decorations that include various coats of arms from Spanish noble houses, portraits of noblemen, and mythological scenes taken from the famous 8th century C.E. poem Metamorphoses, a chronicle of classical mythology and history by the Roman poet Ovid. The back panels display a simpler decoration of figures, animals and ruins set in landscapes, as well as images of exotic fruits from the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Each of the 15 individual panels have five unique images, with each panel painted on both sides. All 75 unique images have a decorative floral gilded border, which seems to have been painted by multiple hands –a common practice in the New Spanish artisan guild system. This biombo appears unique in that it is the only known example where the painted panels are set back in a frame, while the other, published biombos’ surfaces are in plane with the frame. Due to the biombo’s similarities with the polychrome aspects of some sculptural works from the 18th century workshop Taller de los Cora in Puebla, Mexico, the dealers date the object to the 1750s.
A wood sample analysis conducted by ARTE-LAB S.L., a Madrid-based conservation and scientific research lab, confirms that the object is made with ayacahuite pine, a species of wood native to Mexico, thus affirming the place where this object was made
DescriptionTwo folding screens depicting pastoral and mythological scene. Left screen composed of 7 panels and right screen composed of 8 panels.
ProvenanceBy about 1950, said to be in a private collection, Paris; December 6, 2019, anonymous (Paris private collection) sale, Beaussant Lefèvre et Associés, Paris, lot 62 [see note], to Carteia Fine Arts, Madrid; 2024, sold by Carteia Fine Arts to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 18, 2024)
NOTE: As possibly Spanish, 18th century. Provenance information was supplied by the auction house.
NOTE: As possibly Spanish, 18th century. Provenance information was supplied by the auction house.