Trunk; Viceroyalty or Spanish School; XVI century.

Chest; Viceroyalty or Spanish School; XVI century.
Wood covered with corleado leather, brass studs, bronze and engraved iron fittings.
It presents damages caused by the passage of time.
Measurements: 73 x 124 x 60 cm.
Travel trunk belonging to the viceroyalty or Spanish School of the XVI century. Made in wood covered with corleado leather, it presents a rich decoration based on brass and bronze studs arranged in geometric and floral patterns emphasizing the emblem of the fleur de Lis, characteristic resource of the Hispanic late medieval and Renaissance taste, where the repetitive ornamentation not only embellished, but also reinforced structurally the object. The engraved iron fittings, robust and sober, emphasize its utilitarian character without renouncing a careful craftsmanship. The clasp with the bust of a gentleman stands out.
Due to its typology and quality, it is possibly a campaign trunk associated with Juan Maldonado y Ordóñez de Villaquirán (Barco de Ávila, Spain, 1525-Pamplona, New Kingdom of Granada, 1572), conceived to accompany its owner on prolonged journeys, whether military, administrative or colonial in nature. Maldonado was a Spanish military man and conqueror of the 16th century, protagonist of the Hispanic expansion in the north of South America. Founder of the Villa de San Cristóbal (Venezuela) and a key figure in the establishment and relocation of cities such as Mérida, he embodies the profile of the cultured and well-traveled conquistador captain, linked to both the Salamancan tradition and the American colonial enterprise.
The piece is fully inscribed in the context of the 16th century, a time of expansion of the Spanish Empire and intense cultural exchange between the Peninsula and overseas territories. The use of corleado leather, a technique with deep Hispanic roots, dialogues here with the constructive solidity demanded by the itinerant life, reflecting a practical mentality but conscious of the representative value of the objects.