Tracing the Historical Culture of Spalting in Spain to Its Potential Influence on Peru

Abstract

Abstract In Europe, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, intarsia and marquetry woodworks relied heavily on the use of spalted wood (wood colored by fungi) especially the blue-green stained wood from the Chlorociboria species. Although the use of spalted wood is well documented in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and England, little is known about how guild traditions migrated from Spain during European colonization. This research sought to determine if the techniques or woodworks of the time moved to the viceroyalty of Peru. While numerous examples of spalted marquetry have previously been found in Spain, all were made by German artisans and imported to the country. For this research, only one piece of spalted furniture was found in Peru, and it was of English origin. Noting Spain’s lack of production of spalted woodworks and the few pieces found in Peru, it is likely that this niche product did not move to Peru with Spanish colonists and may have instead come over later with English colonists in the 1800s when spalted wood was popular in that region.

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