The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, July 1st, 2002
In the mid-1930s Virginia and Alexander Weddell acquired two seventeenthcentury Spanish barguenos (one of which is pictured right), or traveling desks, at auction in Buenos Aires. Now housed at Virginia House in Richmond, both are made of walnut and decorated with bone, gold leaf, velvet, and pierced iron. When closed for travel, they look like plain rectangular boxes. When opened, however, their front panels fold down to create a writing surface, supported by specially designed stands called pies de puente. In contrast to their utilitarian exteriors, the interiors of these traveling desks are...
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