Notes on Spanish furniture in the 18th century

By pointing out the increasing importance of English furniture in Madrid in the first half of the 18th century, the author questions the widespread belief that Spanish furniture was under French influence at the time because of the advent of the Bourbons. In addition, the author calls attention to the most salient aspects of the union activity of cabinet makers and joiners, such as membership of these artisans in a joint labor organization, their strategies to promote their craft as well as the union, the methods of examination used (with pieces selected beforehand) and the important role played by cabinet makers in value assessments of property, both for deeds of dowry and for postmortem inventories. The author's sources are documents founds in the Archivo de Protocolos de Madrid which date to the years between 1740 through 1760. These documents significantly add new information to the evidence already known about the activities of Madrid's woodwork craftsmen in the 18th century.