Chest of drawers. Period and style Carlos IV. Spain, XVIII century.

Chest of drawers. Period and style Carlos IV. Spain, XVIII century.
In oak wood, mahogany veneer and marquetry.
In good state of preservation.
Measurements: 90 x 121 x 56,50 cm.

This is a Spanish chest of drawers from the Carlos IV period, made in the late eighteenth century, within the framework of Neoclassicism, a style imposed in Spain during the last years of the Ancien Régime under a strong French influence. This period coincides with a time of enlightened reforms and cultural modernization, in which the decorative arts adopt a more rational, sober and orderly language.

The chest of drawers fully responds to this historical context, showing a clear inspiration in the French Louis XVI models, reinterpreted from the Spanish constructive tradition. In contrast to the lightness of French furniture, the pieces of the Charles IV period usually have a more solid presence and greater formal severity, features that are clearly perceived in this piece of furniture.

During the reign of Charles IV, the domestic interior underwent a significant transformation. Private spaces, especially bedrooms and cabinets, were conceived as areas of comfort and discreet representation. The chest of drawers was then consolidated as an essential piece of furniture, destined for the storage of clothes and personal objects, and at the same time became an element of cultural and social prestige.

This type of furniture was common in aristocratic residences as well as in the homes of the high bourgeoisie, reflecting the adherence of its owners to the Enlightenment ideals of order, balance and good taste. The decoration, restrained but precise, responds to an aesthetic that seeks harmony and clarity rather than ostentation.

As a whole, the piece is a representative example of Spanish furniture of the Charles IV period, a testimony to a time of transition in which Neoclassicism became established as an expression of modernity, rationality and refinement in the decorative arts.