A rare Indo-Portuguese chair, most probably from Goa, which is one of a small number of copies that have survived to our day. Chairs were unknown for common use in India before the arrival of the Portuguese1. They were made for local use and not for export. Some others are known, such as those of the collection of the Lisbon City Museum; the Rachol Seminary Museum; the Rosália de Abreu collection, in Panjim; Bom Jesus Church, in Old Goa; and another three in private collections in Lisbon.
In form, these chairs are similar to the models found on the Iberian Peninsula of the same era, due to their simple and stripped form, following the models of wood and padding, or of metal and leather.
The thinness of the frame, in contrast to the European models, is only possible due to the resistance of the material used, teak wood. For obvious reasons of climate, straw was used on the seats and backs2.
The decoration is vegetal in form and carved into the wood, following a decorative formula common in the Hindu culture, which is seen, for example, in the cloth of the time. Sometimes Christian decorative motifs were introduced, such as the case of the application of angels and insignias of religious orders on the chair in the Bom Jesus Church of Old Goa, with a cartouche in the decoration of the top rail, bearing the inscription of the symbol IHS3.
1 Pedro Dias, O Contador das Cenas Familiares, ed. VOC, Porto, 2002, pp. 66-68.
2 De Goa a Lisboa, Maria Helena Mendes Pinto, ed. I.P.M, 1992, cat. 53, p. 112.
3 Oceanos, n.º 19 e 20 - Indo-Portuguesmente, Set/Dez 1994, ed. Comissão para a Comemoração dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, Sentando-se em Goa, Maria Helena Mendes Pinto, p. 43-58.
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