Cabinet on stand, in walnut, with panels of carved marquetry, made in Eger, Bohemia (now Cheb, Czech Republic), ca. 1640-1700.

Cabinet on stand. The doors and sides of the cabinet are set with panels showing fashionably dressed women emblematic of the Seasons. The stand, which is supported on four carved dragon-like consoles, is in dark-stained pine and dates from the 19th century.
The cabinet is raised on a low plinth, with breakfront sections at the ends and in the centre of the front, and at each end of each side. The base and cornice of the plinth are moulded, the frieze sections carved with panels of scrollwork. The cabinet itself is set approximately 20 cm back from the front and side of this plinth. The sides and the two doors each show a blind balustrade at the base, composed of turned balusters, halved and attached to the door. This is punctuated along the front with three Corinthian pilasters on rectangular plinths, the columns divided at one third height, the two secition inlaid with fictive fluting. The central pilaster opens with the right-hand (PL) door. Both doors and the side panels are set with round-arched panels of marquetry, surrounded with applied frames of ripple moulding, with outset upper corners, these surrounded on all side with carving of scrolls against a stippled ground. A shallow cornice, with breakfront sections above the pilasters, is moulded.

The panels of marquetry are veneered with a variety of European woods, some of the veneers carved in low relief and with small details (Summer's sickle, Autumn's cup, and the eyes of the figures) further inlaid with contrasting woods. The inside of the doors show similar marquetry within frames, but here, protected from light, the original contrast between the light-coloured scrolling of the framing sections and the ground of the stippled door veneers is more apparent. Each door is carried on two gilded iron Parliament hinges, which allow the doors to be fully opened.

The interior of the cabinet is fitted with a small central 'theatre', flanked by two banks of 7 drawers, the fronts of these outlined in wave moulding and carved with formal scrolling ornament, including animal and bird figures (exotic and domesticated), including monkey, ostriches, goats and dogs. The central nest or theatre is flanked by pilasters, carved with tapering terms, their centre hung with fruit and scrolls. Above these is a drawer, disguised with an applied balustrade, with carved scrolling above. The nest or theatre shows a colonnade on each side, linked by a balustrade, supporting a balcony above, running round all three sides. The back of the nest is mirrored and arcaded on the lower section, and decorated with painting above. The nest can be covered, when desired, by a pierced, carved and gilded panel.

The Seasons are represented as four separate female figures, Summer and Autumn on the two front doors, with Spring on the left (PR) side and Winter on the right (PL) side. Each is dressed appropriately for the season, but with drapery that is only loosely related to fashionable dress. Each carries or is accompanied with suitable imagery for the season: flowers for spring; a sickle and sheaves of corn for summer; a cup and grapes in a basket for autumn; and a fireplace and fur-lined robe for winter. The inside of the drawers are set with panels showing, on the left, a femail figure with the palm of martyrdom, holding a full-size cross and treading on the figure of a dragon (possibly the Church triumphing over evil); and on the right a female figure, with breastplate of armour, holding two arrows in her right hand and a snake in her left (perhaps the Church defended by the 'armour of righteousnes' against threats from the Devil).

Given by Eric J. Pasold

This cabinet was given to the Museum in 1977 by Eric W. Pasold, after a period of two years during which it had been lent to the Museum (Nominal File: Pasold, Mr. E.W., MA/1/P488, RP 1977/1512, gift form dated 27 March 1977). No previous history of the cabinet was recorded. Mr Pasold had formed a collection in the post-war years so it is likely that it was bought by him in that period.

Exhibited at the Holburn Museum, Bath, 27 October 2012 to 6 January 2013, in Secret Splendour. The Hidden World of Baroque Cabinets, cat. no. 5

This particular form of sculpted marquetry was developed in Eger, Bohemia, in the early 17th century and the trade was at its height between about 1640 and 1680. It involved the setting of multiple pieces of wood, both native-grown and imported from tropical areas, each of them of different thicknesses, allowing for bas-relief carving to complete the image. The wood was set on a base of softwood, usually spruce, pine or fir. Mahogany, walnut and maple were particularly used for the marquetry, together with burr woods (highly figured wood cut from the roots or base of trees), which was used to create particular effects. Details might be added by engraving or by inlaying minute pieces of wood or other materials into the marquetry pieces.

The images created in this marquetry were often base on widely available engravings and could illustrate all sorts of scenes, biblical narratives and classical myths being among the most popular. Certain families became particularly known for this work, amongst them the Eck family and the Fischer family.

Eger marquetry had a particular vogue in the 19th century, when it was admired for its high technical excellence, so it is not surprising that this cabinet seems to have been mounted on a new stand in that period. The V&A has a number of pieces of Eger marquetry, including a panel showing Christ as the Man of Sorrows (41-1869) and a games board with a panel showing the death of Absalom (W.61-1938). It also has a number of small table cabinets made up with re-used Eger panels (museum nos. 7823-1861, 21-1884 and W.38 to 40-1939) which are evidence of the 19th-century popularity of such marquetry.

The marquetry panels have often been likened to the work of the etcher Vaclav (Wenceslaus) Hollar (1607-1677). He was born in Prague in Bohemia and it was intended that he should be a lawyer, but after his family suffered in the Sack of Prague in 1620, he became an etcher. His first works dates from 1625-6. In 1627 he was in Frankfurt, in pursuit of knowledge and advancement, and he worked also in Strasbourh, Mainz and Coblenz, before he came to London in 1637, under the protection of the Earl of Arundel. He lived in England for the rest of his life. However, the images have not been identified in his work and it is more likely that they were based simply on contemporary engravings from northern and central Europe, of the type that he would have known when he was developing his style.

From about 1650 the city of Eger in the Kingdom of Bohemia (now Cheb, in the Czech Republic) became famous for the production of relief-carved marquetry ornament, of the kind shown on the panels of this cabinet. Small items, such as boxes, games boards and counters, and small cabinet, were exported all over Europe. The marquetry was composed largely of European-grown woods, but some were stained in very bright colours. This fine cabinet is an exceptionally large example of the work of the city's craft workshops. The main panels show allegorical figures of the Four Seasons, probably based on engravings, although the source has, as yet, not been identified.

W.42:1-3 -1977