Cabinet

Object Type
The cabinet is fitted with drawers, although their handles are later 18th-century replacements. The original external hinges are different in character from the corner mounts and central lock plates, which are pierced and engraved with Chinoiserie designs. The form of the stand with the coarsely carved caryatid figures is typical of English late-17th-century carving.

Materials & Making
The scale and drawing of this cabinet's japanning is na‹ve, suggesting that it pre-dates 1688, when the most common source book for this type of decoration appeared. Published in Oxford by John Stalker and George Parker as A Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing, this book was intended to assist amateur decorators as well as professional cabinet-makers.

People
The cabinet belonged to Robert Weymiss Symonds (1889-1958), an architect and designer of furniture and interiors. Symonds was also an outstanding furniture historian who published extensively; his first articles appeared in 1922. He advised a number of important collectors. This acquisition, which was made by the V&A when Symonds was just 22, demonstrates his early interest in English furniture.