Cabinet thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Cabinet

1830-1850 (made), c. 1550 (made)
Place of origin
Spain (made)

Bridal chests (or hembras) from Catalonia date from about 1500 and were among the first pieces of European furniture to be fitted with drawers. From about 1540, they evolved into cabinets and writing desks, which ranged from the more functional escritorio of Spain to the highly ornate Kunstschrank closely associated with Augsburg. A number of chests with applied carving and heads in profile were made in Catalonia, Aragon and the Ballearic islands, but many surviving examples, like this one, were heavily restored in the 19th century.


Object details

Categories
Furniture
Containers
Woodwork
Medieval and Renaissance
Object type
Cabinet
Materials and techniques
Walnut
Carving
Gilding
Brief description
Inlaid walnut fall-front cabinet with hinged lid, enclosing 17 drawers; the exterior inlaid with geometrical designs, the drawer fronts and lid underside with low-relief carved profile busts and grotesque ornament over a punched and gilded background.
Physical description
Inlaid walnut fall-front cabinet with hinged lid, enclosing 17 drawers; the exterior inlaid with geometrical designs, the drawer fronts and lid underside with low-relief carved profile busts and grotesque ornament over a punched and gilded background.
Dimensions
  • Height: 54cm (closed)
  • Width: 117cm
  • Depth: 49cm
Object history
Bought for 45L (No further information in register)


Summary
Bridal chests (or hembras) from Catalonia date from about 1500 and were among the first pieces of European furniture to be fitted with drawers. From about 1540, they evolved into cabinets and writing desks, which ranged from the more functional escritorio of Spain to the highly ornate Kunstschrank closely associated with Augsburg. A number of chests with applied carving and heads in profile were made in Catalonia, Aragon and the Ballearic islands, but many surviving examples, like this one, were heavily restored in the 19th century.
Bibliographic references
  • Ancient and Modern Furniture & Woodwork in the South Kensington Museum, described with an introduction by John Hungerford Pollen, (London, 1874), p. 67. CABINET or Chest. Chestnut Wood, in the form of a chest, inlaid with geometric patterns in light wood, the inside fittings carved and gilt. German. About 1530. H. 1 ft. 9 ½ in., L. 3 ft. 10 in., W. 1 ft. 7 in. Bought, 45l. The front flap falls down, and the top opens, with long strap hinges. It has little drawers of all sizes and shapes. The lower row has one wide and two square drawers, deep. The upper rows are shallow, and the highest set back on three sides, leaving a shelf or space in front. The fronts of the drawers are decorated with moulded arabesques cut out and applique on the ground, which is rough gilt. The wide drawers are decorated with six circular medallions of the Caesars, in the same kind of work. This is a German example of the chest, not yet grown to a cabinet by the addition of legs, but there may have been a detached stand for it, now lost.
  • Eric Mercer, The Social History of the Decorative Arts – Furniture 700-1700 (London, 1969), pl. V
  • South Kensington Museum, John Charles Robinson, J. C Robinson, and R. Clay, Sons and Taylor. 1881. Catalogue of the Special Loan Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art: South Kensington Museum, 1881. London: Chapman & Hall, p.120
Collection
Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number
8539-1863

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Record createdFebruary 23, 2005
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O109552/cabinet/
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