Cabinet thumbnail 1
Cabinet thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Cabinet

1876-1877 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This cabinet was designed by Edward William Godwin (1833-1886) and made by either William Watt or Collinson & Lock in London in about 1876. Godwin's watercolour design for the cabinet is in his sketchbooks for the years 1870 to 1876, in the V&A's collection. It belonged to Godwin himself, and later to his son Edward Gordon Craig, from whose estate it was purchased by the Museum.

Known as the “Monkey Cabinet”, owing to its ivory handles which are in the form of monkeys, the cabinet is typical of the Anglo-Japanese style associated with Godwin’s designs. He often incorporated real Japanese artefacts into his work, shopping regularly in the 1870s at Liberty’s East Indian Art Warehouse on Regent Street, which stocked such items. This is possibly where the Japanese carved boxwood panels on the cabinet doors and the Japanese ivory handles came from. The handles are actually netsuke, a sort of Japanese dress ornament used as a weight to prevent purses worn over the belt from slipping off, that have been adapted.


Object details

Category
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 7 parts.

  • Cabinet
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Shelf
  • Shelf
  • Drawer
  • Keys
Materials and techniques
Walnut with carved boxwood, ivory handles and brass castorss
Brief description
walnut, with carved boxwood panels, ivory handles and brass castors; designed by E.W. Godwin for himself and probably made by William Watt, English about 1876
Physical description
Walnut with carved boxwood panels, ivory handles and brass castors
Dimensions
  • Height: 191.8cm
  • Width: 198.1cm
  • Depth: 49.5cm
Dimensions taken from the departmental green catalogues
Marks and inscriptions
'E. W. Godwin' (This is written in ink, in an unidentified hand, on upper side of the left-hand drawer bottom.)
Gallery label
Designed by E.W. Godwin (1833-1886) Made by William Watt or Collinson & Lock, London Walnut with oriental ivory handles and carved panels This cabinet actually belonged to Godwin himself. The ivory handles are probably Japanese and the carved boxwood panels may be Chinese or Japanese. N.B. The word 'oriental' has fallen out of use. It is associated with European colonialism in China and has never been used by people of Asian descent to describe themselves. It comes from the Latin oriens , meaning ‘east’, and implies a euro centric view.(1993)
Object history
This cabinet has become known as the 'Monkey Cabinet' because of the handles in the form of monkeys. The ivory handles are netsuke and both these, and the carved boxwood panels, may have been acquired at Liberty's East Indian Warehouse by Godwin.There is a design for the cabinet in Godwin's sketchbook (V&A P&D E.233-1963, fol.75). The design is towards the end of the sketchbook which covers the period 1870-1876. Godwin presumably intended the cabinet for himself and it was purchased from the estate of his son, Edward Gordon Craig, by the Museum.

In 1968 this cabinet was exhibited in Gallery 119.
Summary
This cabinet was designed by Edward William Godwin (1833-1886) and made by either William Watt or Collinson & Lock in London in about 1876. Godwin's watercolour design for the cabinet is in his sketchbooks for the years 1870 to 1876, in the V&A's collection. It belonged to Godwin himself, and later to his son Edward Gordon Craig, from whose estate it was purchased by the Museum.

Known as the “Monkey Cabinet”, owing to its ivory handles which are in the form of monkeys, the cabinet is typical of the Anglo-Japanese style associated with Godwin’s designs. He often incorporated real Japanese artefacts into his work, shopping regularly in the 1870s at Liberty’s East Indian Art Warehouse on Regent Street, which stocked such items. This is possibly where the Japanese carved boxwood panels on the cabinet doors and the Japanese ivory handles came from. The handles are actually netsuke, a sort of Japanese dress ornament used as a weight to prevent purses worn over the belt from slipping off, that have been adapted.
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.34:1 to 7-1958

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Record createdJuly 26, 2001
Record URL
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