GASPAR HOMAR MEZQUIDA (Bunyola, Mallorca, 1870 - Barcelona, 1953). Modernist bedroom, ca. 1905.

GASPAR HOMAR MEZQUIDA (Bunyola, Mallorca, 1870 - Barcelona, 1953).
Modernist bedroom, ca. 1905.
Mahogany wood with carving, marquetry and gilding.
Measurements: 182 x 155 cm (headboard); 111 x 155 cm (footboard); 195 cm long benches; 120 x 43 x 42 cm (bedside tables); 315 x 232 x 60 cm (wardrobe).
Complete modernist bedroom, one of the best designed by Gaspar Homar throughout his career. It consists of a bed with footboard and headboard, two matching bedside tables and a large wardrobe, all the pieces made to match, with large floral marquetry panels, carved and gilded details and expressive veined veneers. In this marquetry we see a synthesised language that links with the geometric modernism of the United Kingdom and Central Europe, something common in Homar's designs. The wood used for this piece of furniture was the most expensive of the period.
The bed follows a similar design in the headboard and footboard, with a sinuous upper profile, slightly curved prismatic legs and a front organised in three sections, separated by pilasters with raised reliefs that support fanciful lobed arches with lowered profiles. Each of these lanes has an irregularly grained, mottled root veneer, which contrasts with the more uniform tone of the wood of the structure. On top of this veneer are floral motifs in floral marquetry, either directly inlaid on the base or with a wide-grained frame of different wood. On the upper part, naturalistic, moving flowers and leaves are meticulously carved in relief in mahogany, set against an irregular, matt background, painted in a golden tone to enhance the volume of the carvings. The decoration of these two pieces is complemented by thistle flowers carved in relief at the corners, a nod to the neo-Gothic style of Homar's training.
The tables have an original design with a pointed arch floor plan, which gives them a curved elevation. As usual in Homar's furniture designs, the structure is stylised and light, playing with the contrast between closed and open spaces, always with an eye to functionality. Thus, the lower body, raised on three legs similar to those of the bed, is closed by two curved doors, decorated with veneers and floral marquetry again matching those seen on the bed. Above this lower body is an open space, with a carved floral decoration on the front and a closed back decorated with marquetry in the style that dominates the whole ensemble. Finally, there is the waist, with two drawers, also with curved fronts, floral marquetry on root veneer and cut metal handles with a floral design. Above the waist is a white marble top, and finally the structure is crowned by a rectangular panel with curved sides with a bevelled profile mirror, floral carvings on gilding on the upper part and a very naturalistic top, made up of very moving, carved and openwork leaves.
Finally, the cupboard has a monumental architectural structure, typically nineteenth-century, combining ogee arches, stylised floral columns and a classical interplay of arches and lintels on the front. It follows Homar's typical interplay of closed and open spaces, enriched here by the mirrored doors. It consists of a base with drawers, in which we find elements seen in the other pieces: cut-out floral fittings, synthesised floral marquetry with a circular composition and root veneers. Under these drawers we also see the aforementioned carvings in mahogany on gilding. The body of the cabinet is divided into three sections, the central one wider and higher, each with a mirror-fronted door. After his death Gaspar Homar was considered the best Spanish modernist cabinetmaker and creator, his creations were never repeated and were all unique and special designs for his wealthy clients.