Rare Indo-Portuguese cabinet pair in teak with inlays in ebony and ivory, composed of two parts: an upper part, the box; and another lower one, the base. The upper part of the cabinet consists of twelve apparent drawers distributed over four levels, the central drawers of the second and third level being one. The base - having the nāgiṇī-shaped legs, represented by the head and torso of a woman holding her breasts (symbol of fertility), soon becoming a serpent coiled -, is made up of two levels, a top with two drawers and the lower one consisted of a large drawer simulating two drawers, with two locks and its mirrors cut and leaked.
Nāgiṇī is the female version or companion of Nāga, the "king of snakes," Sanskrit word for deity or supernatural entity type in the form of a great serpent. In the Hindu religious culture, the nāgas, since they are male deities, are considered spirits of nature intimately connected to water, rivers, lakes and seas, being protectors of springs, wells and rivers, providing rain and, thus, fertility. They are still today the object of great cultural reference especially in South India being worshiped by women as female deities, bringing
objects - to contain documents and precious goods, carefully guarded behind locks - both the use of heraldic lions of Hindu origin - the Yali (also known as Vyala or Vidala in Sanskrit) that served in the South India as protective figures and emblems of power - as the nāgiṇī serve an apotrophic function, to ward off evil intentions by protecting the contents hidden in these objects, while at the same time identifying them (with their symbolism attached to power and royalty) statute of those who commissioned them, namely members of the Portuguese aristocracy and the royal office established in various parts of the Portuguese State of India.
As is the rule for the production of the furniture in India under Portuguese order, the typology of these cabinets is European and corresponds to forms of furniture carried by the Portuguese, with all the exuberant decoration in horror vacui, as well as the intricate design of the gilded copper fittings, leaked and traced, of local origin, Indian, constituting these objects as true examples of the cultural and artistic fusion that took place after the arrival of the Portuguese to Asia. As for the production of furniture in question, which dates back to the middle of the seventeenth century and will be continued in the workshops of cabinetmaking in Goa, we can understand that its characteristics are still present today in the sacristy cabinets found in the Cathedral of Goa, in Casa Professa do Bom Jesus and in other sacristies of Goan churches, and also in the furnishings preserved in some homes of traditional Goan families. Many of these furniture have large dimensions, which allows to consider having been produced locally, therefore in the region of Goa. The main features of this Goanese production are the following: teak structures with ebony - and sometimes Indian rosewood - designs with vegetal decoration, sometimes complemented with animals (birds and lions) or with a geometric pattern repeated on carpet, such as, secant circles with four-pointed stars inside, diamonds, triangles, and squares. Generally superimposed on the decoration, this furniture features fittings cutted from gold-plated copper (with amalgam of gold and mercury), complementing the decoration of the piece, in a design called `Santa Monica woork’.