Cabinet on Stand
1630-1660 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Table cabinet veneered in ebony, on later stand, the interior with painted panels depicting figures in wooded and river landscapes.
Cabinet
Cabinet with upper compartment under a lifting lid, twin hinged doors, and long plinth drawer, decorated with ebony veneers and geometrical mouldings. The two main doors are each fitted on the inside with a large painted panel, and enclose 8 drawers with painted fronts, ebony mouldings and turned knob handles (which are set on a horizontal band of ebony veneer under each painted front), and a central cupboard door veneered in ebony and with columns, set below a veneered drawer with broken pediment, and above a veneered drawer with pedestals (for the columns). (The pediment and base drawers without knobs so they are in one sense concealed.) All the painted panels depict peasants and travellers in cultivated landscapes with woods, fields, lakes or streams, cottages, with cattle, donkeys and dogs.
The central door with two ebony columns, and on bracketed gilt metal hinges allowing it to be fully opened, and fitted with a gilt metal sprung lock and escutcheon. The door opens to reveal a nest of 5 drawers (2 narrow, 2 narrow (short), one wide, the fronts with ebony veneers and mouldings, and gilded metal knobs, with a vertical drawer divider with ebony facing. Behind the two central drawers is a secret compartment (internal dims. 5 x 22.5 x 3.3cm) of plain oak, which is jointed and glued to the vertical drawer divider, so that with the two central drawers withdrawn, the divider and secret compartment can be slid out.
The plinth drawer and upper compartment are each fitted with a sprung rim lock with gilt metal escutcheon. The left hand door with top and bottom bolts (the upper one replaced). The right hand door fitted with a rim, dead-lock (replaced).
The 10 drawers are numbered on their backs in feint red brush(?), possibly original, and (using a different numbering scheme) in pencil, recently. The numbering starts with the bottom left drawer and runs up (1-4), then with the pediment drawer (5), and down the right side (6-9), then finishes with the plinth below the door (10).
Construction
Softwood, dovetailed, with ebony veneers and mouldings. The drawers of oak, dovetailed, and lined with pink silk. Set with panels of wood painted in oils.
Stand (probably 18th century)
On four cabriole legs with pad feet, with a sunk panel in the frieze.
Size of painted panels
The large, door panels are (HxW) 397 x 309 (RHS) and 395 x 305mm (LHS), sight size.
Drawer fronts are 79 x 223 mm (bottom pair), the others are 84 x 223mm, sight size.
Cabinet
Cabinet with upper compartment under a lifting lid, twin hinged doors, and long plinth drawer, decorated with ebony veneers and geometrical mouldings. The two main doors are each fitted on the inside with a large painted panel, and enclose 8 drawers with painted fronts, ebony mouldings and turned knob handles (which are set on a horizontal band of ebony veneer under each painted front), and a central cupboard door veneered in ebony and with columns, set below a veneered drawer with broken pediment, and above a veneered drawer with pedestals (for the columns). (The pediment and base drawers without knobs so they are in one sense concealed.) All the painted panels depict peasants and travellers in cultivated landscapes with woods, fields, lakes or streams, cottages, with cattle, donkeys and dogs.
The central door with two ebony columns, and on bracketed gilt metal hinges allowing it to be fully opened, and fitted with a gilt metal sprung lock and escutcheon. The door opens to reveal a nest of 5 drawers (2 narrow, 2 narrow (short), one wide, the fronts with ebony veneers and mouldings, and gilded metal knobs, with a vertical drawer divider with ebony facing. Behind the two central drawers is a secret compartment (internal dims. 5 x 22.5 x 3.3cm) of plain oak, which is jointed and glued to the vertical drawer divider, so that with the two central drawers withdrawn, the divider and secret compartment can be slid out.
The plinth drawer and upper compartment are each fitted with a sprung rim lock with gilt metal escutcheon. The left hand door with top and bottom bolts (the upper one replaced). The right hand door fitted with a rim, dead-lock (replaced).
The 10 drawers are numbered on their backs in feint red brush(?), possibly original, and (using a different numbering scheme) in pencil, recently. The numbering starts with the bottom left drawer and runs up (1-4), then with the pediment drawer (5), and down the right side (6-9), then finishes with the plinth below the door (10).
Construction
Softwood, dovetailed, with ebony veneers and mouldings. The drawers of oak, dovetailed, and lined with pink silk. Set with panels of wood painted in oils.
Stand (probably 18th century)
On four cabriole legs with pad feet, with a sunk panel in the frieze.
Size of painted panels
The large, door panels are (HxW) 397 x 309 (RHS) and 395 x 305mm (LHS), sight size.
Drawer fronts are 79 x 223 mm (bottom pair), the others are 84 x 223mm, sight size.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 17 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Softwood and oak, veneered with ebony, and with painted wood panels |
| Brief description | Cabinet on stand, Antwerp, 1630-1660. Veneered with ebony, and inside with painted panels depicting landscape scenes. |
| Physical description | Table cabinet veneered in ebony, on later stand, the interior with painted panels depicting figures in wooded and river landscapes. Cabinet Cabinet with upper compartment under a lifting lid, twin hinged doors, and long plinth drawer, decorated with ebony veneers and geometrical mouldings. The two main doors are each fitted on the inside with a large painted panel, and enclose 8 drawers with painted fronts, ebony mouldings and turned knob handles (which are set on a horizontal band of ebony veneer under each painted front), and a central cupboard door veneered in ebony and with columns, set below a veneered drawer with broken pediment, and above a veneered drawer with pedestals (for the columns). (The pediment and base drawers without knobs so they are in one sense concealed.) All the painted panels depict peasants and travellers in cultivated landscapes with woods, fields, lakes or streams, cottages, with cattle, donkeys and dogs. The central door with two ebony columns, and on bracketed gilt metal hinges allowing it to be fully opened, and fitted with a gilt metal sprung lock and escutcheon. The door opens to reveal a nest of 5 drawers (2 narrow, 2 narrow (short), one wide, the fronts with ebony veneers and mouldings, and gilded metal knobs, with a vertical drawer divider with ebony facing. Behind the two central drawers is a secret compartment (internal dims. 5 x 22.5 x 3.3cm) of plain oak, which is jointed and glued to the vertical drawer divider, so that with the two central drawers withdrawn, the divider and secret compartment can be slid out. The plinth drawer and upper compartment are each fitted with a sprung rim lock with gilt metal escutcheon. The left hand door with top and bottom bolts (the upper one replaced). The right hand door fitted with a rim, dead-lock (replaced). The 10 drawers are numbered on their backs in feint red brush(?), possibly original, and (using a different numbering scheme) in pencil, recently. The numbering starts with the bottom left drawer and runs up (1-4), then with the pediment drawer (5), and down the right side (6-9), then finishes with the plinth below the door (10). Construction Softwood, dovetailed, with ebony veneers and mouldings. The drawers of oak, dovetailed, and lined with pink silk. Set with panels of wood painted in oils. Stand (probably 18th century) On four cabriole legs with pad feet, with a sunk panel in the frieze. Size of painted panels The large, door panels are (HxW) 397 x 309 (RHS) and 395 x 305mm (LHS), sight size. Drawer fronts are 79 x 223 mm (bottom pair), the others are 84 x 223mm, sight size. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Selwyn Image |
| Object history | Given by Selwyn Image, of 78 Parkhurst Road, Holloway, London. RF 29/9525. Findings lists suggest that following acquisition in 1929, the cabinet was by 1954 on display in room 3, as one of the furnishings of a 17th century French period room, but moved to store by 1973 (various locations), until the time of writing (2013). The donor Selwyn Image (1849-1930), was an English clergyman, designer, particularly of stained glass windows, poet and artist. He founded the Century Guild of Artists in London with A. H. Mackmurdo, and also established the Guild's workshops. He was co-editor of the Guild's magazine, The Hobby Horse, from 1886 to 1892. He became Master of the Art Workers' Guild in 1900, and was Slade Professor at Oxford University from 1910 to 1916. He wrote the following poem on the occasion of the gift of this cabinet: TO THE OLD BLACK CABINET on its departure to the Victoria and Albert Museum. GOODBYE, Old Friend, 'tis fourscore years, Or nigh, since first you won My childish heart! What wonder tears Well up now you are gone? Together you and I no more May watch how fares our home, Its shifts and changes floor to floor While fashions go and come. But 'mid them ah! to you at least All paid their courteous bow, As time sped on your charm increased We felt it grow and grow. Some shapely art shall stand, I trust, Where you have stood so long, No worthless piece its presence thrust To do your memory wrong. Farewell and yet I say Farewell With a heart not wholly sad, The home, wherein you go to dwell, Is nobler than you've had. And there in reverence you'll be held Safe from least chance of harm While to and fro by your beauty spelled Scroll crowds, and laud your charm. And so Goodbye, Old Friend, Goodbye! To thoughtful care I leave you; For though we part now, you and I Right loyal hearts receive you. October 23rd, 1929 Selwyn Image, from. “The poems of Selwyn Image” edited by A.H. Macmurdo (Elkin, Mathews and Marrot, 1932) |
| Historical context | See W.61-1923 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.84-1929 |
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| Record created | April 1, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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