Cabinet
17th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Portable fall-front cabinets of this type were designed for holding personal effects and were a basic requirement of European merchants and traders living and travelling in Asia. This piece belongs to one of the earliest identifiable groups of furniture made in India in the 16th and early 17th centuries for Europeans in Western India. A major market was the Portuguese settlement of Goa.
The production of such furniture was based in western India, a long-standing centre of luxury goods where there were firmly established merchant communities from the Middle East, South-East Asia and Europe. Contemporary accounts differ as to the place of manufacture of such articles, suggesting perhaps that there were several centres working in related styles and sharing methods of production.
Whatever their place of manufacture, it is clear that portable fall-front cabinets of this type were made in large numbers and traded both locally and to Europe, where their exotic materials and decoration would have ensured that they were highly esteemed. As with other goods bound for Europe, cabinets of this type were frequently traded through Goa.
The production of such furniture was based in western India, a long-standing centre of luxury goods where there were firmly established merchant communities from the Middle East, South-East Asia and Europe. Contemporary accounts differ as to the place of manufacture of such articles, suggesting perhaps that there were several centres working in related styles and sharing methods of production.
Whatever their place of manufacture, it is clear that portable fall-front cabinets of this type were made in large numbers and traded both locally and to Europe, where their exotic materials and decoration would have ensured that they were highly esteemed. As with other goods bound for Europe, cabinets of this type were frequently traded through Goa.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Wood, inlaid with various woods, brass and ivory; metal mounts |
| Brief description | Fall-front cabinet of wood, inlaid with various lighter woods, brass and ivory (or bone), with one metal handle (the other missing), metal lock plate and internal drawers. Made in Gujarat, India or Sindh, Pakistan, 17th century |
| Physical description | Fall-front cabinet of wood, inlaid with various woods, brass and ivory, with a metal lock plate and one carrying handle (the other missing). The top, front, back and sides are decorated with panels containing figures, some winged, amid flowering plants and birds, surrounded by borders of wavy stems and flowers. The inside of the falling front panel is inlaid with two tigers facing one another amid flowering plants, within a similar border. Inside is a long drawer at the top, below which is a deep drawer between four shallow ones; the fronts of each are decorated with borders of checkers, the long drawer having also a panel of bone in the middle. Each side was originally fitted with a metal handle (one missing) and on the front is a lock with a circular plate. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Gallery label | Cabinet
About 1620–50
India (Gujarat) or Pakistan (Sindh)
Hardwood inlaid with lighter woods, brass and ivory or bone; metal mounts
Probably made for Europeans living or travelling in Asia(09.12.2015) |
| Credit line | Bought (Source not recorded) |
| Object history | Acquired by the South Kensington Museum in 1903. Bought (Source not recorded). This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project. |
| Production | Made in Gujarat or Sindh |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Portable fall-front cabinets of this type were designed for holding personal effects and were a basic requirement of European merchants and traders living and travelling in Asia. This piece belongs to one of the earliest identifiable groups of furniture made in India in the 16th and early 17th centuries for Europeans in Western India. A major market was the Portuguese settlement of Goa. The production of such furniture was based in western India, a long-standing centre of luxury goods where there were firmly established merchant communities from the Middle East, South-East Asia and Europe. Contemporary accounts differ as to the place of manufacture of such articles, suggesting perhaps that there were several centres working in related styles and sharing methods of production. Whatever their place of manufacture, it is clear that portable fall-front cabinets of this type were made in large numbers and traded both locally and to Europe, where their exotic materials and decoration would have ensured that they were highly esteemed. As with other goods bound for Europe, cabinets of this type were frequently traded through Goa. |
| Bibliographic reference | Skelton, Robert, et al, The Indian Heritage. Court life and Arts under Mughal Rule London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982
p.163, cat.555 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1598-1903 |
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| Record created | August 22, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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