wooden cabinet of mixed Spanish and Oriental origin that first appeared in Europe in the late Middle Ages and became a common article of furniture in the Spanish colonial empire from the late 16th century onward. Its major component is a chest with a drop front. The interior is divided into an intricate arrangement of drawers and recesses for holding jewels, documents, and other valuables. The drawers and recesses are often inlaid with ivory, silver, or gold and are occasionally stained in bright colours. The exterior is elaborately mounted at the corners and elsewhere in iron or silver, and the front is secured by a heavy padlock or conventional lock.

Originally, the base was another chest divided into two cupboards, but later versions usually stand on a support of baluster legs spanned by intricate arcading after French and Italian Renaissance prototypes. The design of the vargueno was later copied by practitioners of the revived Spanish Colonial style in the United States.