Cabinets like this one were the height of fashion in France from about 1640 to 1660. They were used to house collections of precious objects and natural rarities, such as unusual shells, but they were also admired as luxury objects in their own right. Ebony was at that time the most fashionable wood for veneering cabinets. It was imported into France at great expense from Africa, Madagascar and India. In France the skilled woodworkers who made cabinets of this kind came to be called ébénistes, after the wood they used most. The outside of this cabinet is carved with scenes taken from the engraved illustrations to a novel first published in Paris in 1624. It is the story of the goddess Diana and her love for the youthful shepherd Endymion.
Physical description
Cabinet on stand. Central-opening, two doors, decorated with carving illustrating the story of Diana and Endymion. Carving continues on the interior. The doors present further episodes of the Endymion story, and the drawer fronts are carved with scenes of the Labours of the Months. In the centre is a small cupboard which, when opened, presents a theatre set of richly coloured marquetry and mirror glass.
Place of Origin
Paris, France (probably, made)
Date
1640-1650 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Ebony, on an oak and pine carcase, with carved decoration; interior with marquetry including ivory and several woods, mirror glass and gilded balusters
Marks and inscriptions
'L'Endimion'
Dimensions
Height: 2000 mm, Width: 1730 mm, Depth: 590 mm, Width: 3353 mm cabinet with open doors, Width: 2250 mm with one door open
Object history note
Decorative carving of the narrative of Diana and Endymion after a prose romance by Jean Ogier de Gombauld (ca. 1576-1666) published in 1624, which achieved great fame. Several of the scenes are derived from illustrations to the book, most of them by Crispin de Passe the Younger (1593-1670). One of the patrons of the writer was Louis XIII's queen, Anne of Austria, who became Queen Regent for the young Louis XIV in 1643. She exercised much power and many of the known cabinets are assosciated with her court circle.
At one time such cabinets were ascribed to the cabinet-maker Jean Macé (c. 1602-1662), but it has not proved possible to identify him as a maker of any cabinet of this type.
A similar cabinet in the Ashmolean Museum is said to be inscribed 'G. Marot 1644' although this inscription has not been found in recent examinations; it may refer to Girard Marot, father of Jean Marot (1640-1701) and grandfather of Daniel Marot (ca. 1663-1752)
S.M. 'Western Furniture 1350 to the Present Day', p.58]
Descriptive line
Cabinet on stand, 'Diana and Endymion', French, 1640-50
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Wilk, Christopher, ed. . Western Furniture 1350 to the Present Day. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996. 230p., ill. ISBN 085667463X.
Thorpe, William, 'The French Taste of Mr John Jones. Part I, the born virtuoso' in The Antique Collector, October 1961, pp. 208-214.
This illustrates one panel from the cabinet, which is not part of the bequest of John Jones.
Exhibition History
Secret Splendour: The Hidden World of Baroque Cabinets (The Holbourne Museum of Art 27/10/2012-06/01/2013)
Labels and date
CABINET ON STAND
FRENCH (Paris); about 1645
Oak and pine carcase veneered with ebony. The interior has a central recess with ivory and mirror decoration. Inscribed (inside) 'L'Endimion'.
The principal reliefs on this cabinet are taken from illustrations to L'Endymion (1624) a celebrated novel by Jean Ogier Gombauld (about 1576-1666). It is probable that they were supplied to the court circle in Paris; Anne of Austria, who became Queen Regent for the infant Louis XIV in 1643, was an admirer of Gombault. The form of this type of cabinet is derived from Flemish prototypes, but the elaborate and exclusive use of ebony on this scale is a new departure and explains why the French adopted the term 'ebeniste' for a cabinet-maker. [pre October 2000]
Materials
Ivory; Oak; Pine; Ebony
Techniques
Carved; Marquetry
Subjects depicted
Diana; Endymion
Categories
Furniture
Collection code
FWK
