The Bargueno is above all a Portable desk which ressembles the top half of a Fall front desk. It is basically a chest with its lid on the side, and an interior equipped with a good quantity of small drawers and pigeon holes.
As a general rule the interior of a Bargueno is much more richly decorated than the exterior. Thus a Bargueno looking very plain from the exterior will have a reasonably rich and well sculpted interior while a Bargueno with impressive exterior decorations will have a truly ornate and extremely rich interior. It is one of the best examples of wood craftsmanship in Renaissance Spain.
There was usually a very sturdy iron handle on each side of the Bargueno, to make transport relatively easy for two strong servants. A Bargueno could be set down on any solid table but there were often ready made suports for it: The "Taquillon" was a chest of drawers decorated much like it while the "Pie de puente" was a small trestle table also in the same style and material.
Barguenos first appeared in the 15th and were popular all through the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. After a lull in the 19th century, they became again popular as antiques in the 20th.
See also the list of desk forms and types.