Bureau Secretary
c. 1735
Medium
Oak, pine, walnut, paint, gilding, silvering, gesso, varnish, mirror glass, leather, brass, and iron
Dimensions
241.3 × 108 × 60.4 cm (95 × 42 1/2 × 23 3/4 in.); Doors Open: 241.3 × 195.6 × 60.4 cm (95 × 77 × 23 3/4 in.)
Classification
wood
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
197714
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Giles Grendey was a cabinetmaker and timber merchant with workshops near St. Paul’s, London. Unusually for an English cabinetmaker of his time, he had a broad international clientele: a fire that struck his premises in August 1731 destroyed over £1000 worth of furniture (approximately $37,000 in today’s currency) described as “pack’d for Exportation against the next morning.” In fact, Grendey’s most famous commission came from a Spanish client, the Duke of Infantado, for whose castle at Lazcano ...