The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Furniture Finishing

Tables and benches show heavy turned legs splaying outward and ornamental curved and twisted iron bracing; chests are of oak carved in rosette patterns or with portrait profiles set in medallions or with raised diamond shaped Moorish panelling not unlike the Elizabethan and Jacobean style in England. Buffets and cupboards akin to the "armoires" of France have arcaded spindles in the upper compartments, the lower part being the conventional high chest.

It is in the vargueno that we have what is beyond doubt the most typical Spanish piece of furniture. Castilian in origin, it served the double purpose of desk and cabinet and consists in the upper part of a rectangular box the face of which hinges down, revealing a multitude of little drawers and doors. The lower part is a narrow table with spiral or spindle turned legs fortified by a colonnade, or in some instances, with iron bracing.

Decoratively it is also unique, chiefly in the upper part which may be painted or lacquered red or black. At the top is a primitive lock of the hasp or staple type, at the bottom hinges of the same metal, brass, bronze or iron. In the front of the door panels are set curiously pierced lozenge-shaped Moorish plaques, gilded, if not of brass, and nailed over red velvet. The interior is inlayed in pictorial, arabesque or geometrical designs with tiny bits of gold, silver, ebony, bone or tortoise shell.

In woods the Spaniard gave first preference to walnut, next to oak, chestnut and red pine in the order named. In the eighteenth century there was some swing to mahogany, but in all cases veneering was avoided in favor of the solid wood. The methods of decoration were few and have been described, notably painting, Moorish inlay and carving. Fringed velvet and embossed leather seats and backs on chairs provided red. blue, green and yellow color relief against a frame of dark oiled walnut. These coverings are attached with large round-headed nails, hammered through the wood and crudely bent back on the reverse.

The vogue for modern reproductions grew out of a desire to furnish California and Florida homes of Spanish and Italian architectural inspiration in styles to harmonize.