Marquetry of ivory and turtle shell, on a carcase of oak, the lid hinged, the vertical corners reinforced with brass. Probably by Wilhelm de Rots, The Hague, ca. 1660

Rectangular box with hinged lid, the exterior set with marquetry of scrolling stems in ivory on a ground of turtle-shell, the interior with veneers of ivory that has been dyed to imitate turtle shell, the vertical corners reinforced with brass mouldings . The moulding on the edge of the box are possibly in bone.
On turned, ebonised feet (3 missing). No key (2013)
The hinges, hasp and steel lock held on modern, slotted screws.
The base repaired with a thin sheet of wood nailed in place.

Bought. 4l. 16s. RP: 1933/4654 (No further information recorded in V&A registry.)

Attributed to Wilhelm de Rots, cabinet-maker and concierge at the court of Amalia von Solms in the Hague, on the basis of comparison with the cabinet (Rijksmuseum, BK-2005-19) made c.1650-60 for her. The Hague was noted for its fashionable and sophisticated court taste with a strong Parisian accent, set by the Stadholders from the 1630s. Furniture was ordered from Paris, but the wealthy inhabitants of the city also supported artists and craftsmen.

The use of ivory and turtle-shell marquetry was influenced by furniture made in Paris and possibly northern Germany from the 1640s. The technique of two-material marquetry, sawn from clamped sheets at the same time later came to be known as Boulle marquetry, after its famous proponent André-Charles Boulle.

Wilhelm Rots (c.1616-) was Princess Amalia's concierge or kastelein, responsible for the moveable goods in her palaces, from at least the early 1650s and is recorded in the Hague from 1649 when he associated with ebony workers. He may have been of German origin. Another box with ivory and turtle-shell marquetry, with the HAVO monogram and therefore probably made for Amalia survives in the collection of the Landgrave of Hesse at Schloss Fasanerie. Baarsen suggests that Rots probably worked exclusively for the court. If this box is by Rots, it represents a simpler type of work from his documented and extremely elaborate cabinet for Amalia, and might have been a modest commission from a visitor to court.

For Wilhelm de Rots, see Reinier Baarsen: Furniture in Holland’s Golden Age. (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 2007, pp. 111-123.

When the box was acquired for the South Kensington Museum, it was described as 'Box. Marquetry of ivory and tortoise-shell, inlaid with floriated scrolls, bound with brass at the angles, lined with stained ivory in imitation of shell. Italian. 17th centy. H: 7 3/4". L. 17 1/2 ". W. 12". Bought. 4l. 16s.'

At the time of its purchase by the Museum, this box was thought to be Italian. Recent research by Reinier Baarsen at the Rijksmuseum has identified it as a piece by the cabinet maker Wilhelm de Rots, who worked at The Hague in the middle years of the 17th century. He was particularly skilled in marquetry of ivory and turtle shell and was first identified as the maker of a cabinet-on-stand made for Amalia van Solms, widow of the Stadholder Frederick Henry, who died in 1647 (that cabinet now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). De Rots was celebrated in his day and his skill even recorded in a poem by Jan Zoet (1609 - 1674), whose verses provided much commentary on contemporary life in Amsterdam and The Hague. Zoets described the marquetry of de Rots and it liveliness, ending with the line 'The smallest flower makes an inner sound'.

2422-1856