Physical description
The John Evelyn Cabinet has an ebony veneered pine carcass with oak drawers, the fronts of which are decorated with pietre dure plaques.
[Cabinet] The top part is in the form of a false drawer, with a gilt bronze masked key escutcheon in the centre. It is surmounted with brass strawberry leaf cresting, the corner mounts with amorini and swags and bearded masks. On each of the top corners is placed a bearded head and on each of the bottom a blank cartouche. They are in turn surmounted by a gilt bronze ionic capital, with scrolled gilt bronze feet at the base. The cabinet is divided into three bays, articulated by 4 terms. The tops of the shafts are surmounted by female heads. Above each term is placed a niche, in which is placed a brass statuette: they are one Hercules, two Junos and a Jupiter, working from left to right. In the centre is a pietre dure plaque representing a fountain, beneath a cupola, supported by four doric pillars. This serves as a door, which opens onto an optical chequerboard-and-mirror device, placed behind a double arch and supported by four small giltwood doric columns. On the inside of the door is a leaden brass plaque of Orpheus singing to the animals, produced from a mould by Francesco Fanelli.
The sides consist of thickly moulded panels, with brass loop handles, of about 1830, decorated with swags of drapery on the upper part and a lion's head, flanked by reclining amorini on the lower part.
[Stand] The stand is ebonized pinewood, and consists of one twisted leg terminating in a bun foot, in each corner, and a fifth one in the centre, with a triangular base. It was probably made between about 1820 and 1830.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer, gilt brass central key escutcheon in the form of a mask, flanked by two leaden bronze plaques (probably of about 1820 - 1830) , depicting putti and swags.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer and two pietre dure plaques on the front. The one on the left depicts a jay perched on an oak twig with acorns. That on the right represents a sprig of white flowers. The gilt brass key escutcheon resembles an auricular frame. The back, sides, bottom and unveneered part of the front of the drawer are of oak.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer and two pietre dure plaques on the front. The one on the left depicts a gold finch perched on an twig with blue flowers. That on the right represents a sprig of primroses. The gilt brass key escutcheon resembles an auricular frame. The back, sides, bottom and unveneered part of the front of the drawer are of oak.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer and two pietre dure plaques on the front. The one on the left depicts a parrot perched on an twig with yellow flowers. That on the right represents a sprig of blue flowers. The gilt brass key escutcheon resembles an auricular frame. The back, sides, bottom and unveneered part of the front of the drawer are of oak.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer and two pietre dure plaques on the front. The one on the left depicts a sprig of yellow flowers, and the one on the right a sprig of white flowers. The gilt brass key escutcheon resembles an auricular frame. The back, sides, bottom and unveneered part of the front of the drawer are of oak.
[Drawer] Drawer of oak with small circular hole on one side, originally for a ribbon with which to pull it out from its concealed position.
[Drawer] Drawer of oak with small circular hole on one side, originally for a ribbon with which to pull it out from its concealed position.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer and one pietre dure plaque on the front, depicting a bird with its right wing outstretched and its left one partially concealed. The gilt brass key escutcheon is in the form of a winged mask. The back, sides, bottom and unveneered part of the front of the drawer are of oak.
[Drawer] Drawer of oak with small circular hole on one side, originally for a ribbon with which to pull it out from its concealed position.
[Drawer] Drawer of oak with small circular hole on one side, originally for a ribbon with which to pull it out from its concealed position.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer and two pietre dure plaques on the front, each depicting a different type of white flower. The gilt brass key escutcheon resembles an auricular frame. The back, sides, bottom and unveneered part of the front of the drawer are of oak.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer and two pietre dure plaques on the front. The one on the left represents a sprig of white flowers, and the one on the right a jay perched on an oak twig with acorns. The gilt brass key escutcheon resembles an auricular frame. The back, sides, bottom and unveneered part of the front of the drawer are of oak.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer and two pietre dure plaques on the front. The one on the left represents a sprig of blue flowers, and the one on the right a parrot perched on an twig with yellow flowers. The gilt brass key escutcheon resembles an auricular frame. The back, sides, bottom and unveneered part of the front of the drawer are of oak.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer and two pietre dure plaques on the front. The one on the left represents a sprig of white flowers, and the one on the right a kingfisher perched on an twig with yellow flowers, and a butterfly in the background. The gilt brass key escutcheon resembles an auricular frame. The back, sides, bottom and unveneered part of the front of the drawer are of oak.
[Drawer] Drawer of oak with small circular hole on one side, originally for a ribbon with which to pull it out from its concealed position.
[Drawer] Drawer of oak with small circular hole on one side, originally for a ribbon with which to pull it out from its concealed position.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer and one pietre dure plaque on the front, depicting a bird with its left wing outstretched and its right one partially concealed. The gilt brass key escutcheon is in the form of a winged mask. The back, sides, bottom and unveneered part of the front of the drawer are of oak.
[Drawer] Drawer of oak with small circular hole on one side, originally for a ribbon with which to pull it out from its concealed position.
[Drawer] Drawer of oak with small circular hole on one side, originally for a ribbon with which to pull it out from its concealed position.
[Drawer] Drawer with ebony veneer, decorated with eight leaden bronze plaques of animals, probably produced from old moulds by John Bank, Francesco Fanelli's former assistant. Two groups of three plaques are placed either side of two gilt brass coats of arms of the Evelyn Family, a griffin passant, with a group of two in the centre. From left to right, they are a wild boar, a hound, a horse, a standing bull, a lying cow, a grazing ass, a reclining lion eating a ram's head, and a standing lioness.
[key] Key (modern).
Place of Origin
Florence, Italy (probably, made)
England, Great Britain (made)
Date
1644-1646 (made)
ca. 1830 (made)
Artist/maker
Benotti, Domenico (maker)
Francesco Fanelli, born 1572 - died 1664 (maker)
Bank, John (possibly, maker)
Materials and Techniques
Veneered with ebony on a pine carcase, with oak drawer linings; inlaid with panels of Florentine pietre dure; contemporary and later bronze mounts
Marks and inscriptions
[Drawer] inverted '2'
[Drawer] '9' or inverted '6'
[Drawer] '8'
[Drawer] inverted '3'
[Drawer] 'I'
[Drawer] 'I'
[Drawer] inverted '4'
[Drawer] inverted '5'
[Drawer] inverted '7'
[Drawer] '4'
[Drawer] '2'
[Drawer] inverted '4'
Dimensions
[Cabinet] Height: 91 cm, Width: 40 cm, Depth: 122 cm
[Drawer] Height: 14.7 cm, Width: 101.6 cm, Depth: 35.3 cm
[Drawer] Height: 12.4 cm, Width: 35.1 cm, Depth: 35.9 cm
[Drawer] Height: 12.7 cm, Width: 35.3 cm, Depth: 37.2 cm
[Drawer] Height: 12.6 cm, Width: 35.1 cm, Depth: 37.4 cm
[Drawer] Height: 12.7 cm, Width: 35.3 cm, Depth: 37.2 cm
[Drawer] Height: 11.1 cm, Width: 4.7 cm, Depth: 29.7 cm
[Drawer] Height: 11.3 cm, Width: 3.8 cm, Depth: 5.8 cm
[Drawer] Height: 11.5 cm, Width: 22.2 cm, Depth: 37.3 cm
[Drawer] Height: 11.1 cm, Width: 4.7 cm, Depth: 29.7 cm
[Drawer] Height: 11.3 cm, Width: 3.8 cm, Depth: 5.8 cm
[Drawer] Height: 12.6 cm, Height: 35.3 cm, Depth: 37.2 cm
[Drawer] Height: 12.4 cm, Width: 35.3 cm, Depth: 37.2 cm
[Drawer] Height: 12.4 cm, Width: 35.1 cm, Depth: 37.4 cm
[Drawer] Height: 12.4 cm, Width: 35.2 cm, Depth: 37.0 cm
[Drawer] Height: 11.1 cm, Width: 3.0 cm, Depth: 5.6 cm
[Drawer] Height: 11.1 cm, Width: 3.9 cm, Depth: 5.6 cm
[Drawer] Height: 11.4 cm, Width: 22.3 cm, Depth: 37.4 cm
[Drawer] Height: 11.4 cm, Width: 4.6 cm, Depth: 29.4 cm
[Drawer] Height: 11.4 cm, Width: 4.6 cm, Depth: 29.4 cm
[Drawer] Height: 9.8 cm, Width: 101.6 cm, Depth: 35.6 cm
Object history note
When he was in Florence in October 1644 John Evelyn noted in his diary the virtuosity of Domenico Benotti, a pietre dure specialist. He also recorded purchasing ‘nineteen pieces of the same work for a cabinet". This implies that he intended ordering a cabinet, most likely in Florence, while he wintered in Rome. Although it has been suggested that the cabinet was made in Paris - and indeed Evelyn certainly acquired an engraved ebony cabinet from the French capital in 1652- Florence was also a centre of cabinetmaking, particularly of (often) highly elaborate examples veneered in ebony and embellised in pietre dure. These would have been made in the Opificcio delle pietre dure, the grand-ducal factory. The mounts and key escutcheons are thought to date from the mid 1640s; the brass plaques have been attributed to the workshop of Francesco Fanelli, the Florentine Sculptor who worked in England from 1631 until about 1642. It has been suggested that John Evelyn may have acquired the brass panels from Fanelli in Paris between 1646 and 1652 and had the cabinet enlarged there so as to accomodate them. It has also been suggested that the Fanelli plaques were made from old moulds of his by a former assistant by the name of John Bank, who, according to Horace Walpole, was still alive in 1713. The statuettes are somewhat enigmatic: they are styllistically closer to Northern European than Florentine sculpture at the time, and may possibly have been added by John Evelyn at a later date. Although John Evelyn moved from Sayes Court, Deptford, to Wotton in Surrey in 1700, the pietre dure cabinet is not included in his inventory of 1702, but was probably among his ‘Beds, Beding, Hangings, Cabinets, Tables ...' in his London House in Dover Street, which he left his wife by a codicil to his will of 1703.
In April 1813 William Upcott, sub-librarian of the London Institution, discovered John Evelyn's diary in "the ebony cabinet in the Billiard Room" (i.e. either this one or a French Ebony cabinet, now in the Geffrye Museum Collections) at Wooton, and after some difficulty managed to persuade one of his descendants to have it reprinted. Following the interest generated by this publication, parts were added to the cabinet, no doubt to make it more romantic and antique. This included the gilt brass mounts, decorated with amorini and swags, the strawberry leaf cresting and the cabinet stand.
Historical significance: The John Evelyn cabinet is important from a historical and aesthetic point of view. Not only could it have housed John Evelyn's diaries, perhaps the greatest record of morals, manners and tastes of the leading personalities in the reign of Charles II; but it is also a very interesting and rarely documented example of the English making purchases of continental furntiure during the Civil War. Indeed the years spent in continental exile by Royalists did much to bring about a radical change in English architecture and decorative arts. What they saw in countries like France, Holland and Italy often made them hanker after continental fashions and styles. Pietre Dure were renowned throughout continental Europe, and were made not only in Florence but also Rome, Paris and Prague. Nicholas Stone the Younger tried but failed to gain access to the granducal factory when he visited Florence in 1638. If one excludes various items (probably) of pietre dure formerly in the collections of King Charles I, Evelyn's purchase of Benotti's plaques is perhaps the earliest recorded by an Englishman. Cabinets were highly prestigeous pieces of furniture: they served to store correspondence and curios that a gentleman might collect for his own enjoyment and education. From the late 16th century, they became widespread throughout Europe. However, few cabinets, with good English provenances that date before the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 have survived.
The 19th century additions are an interesting example of romantic historicism, with strawberry -leaf cresting and plaques of amorini with swags, trying to evoke the period covered by Evelyn's diary.
Descriptive line
The Evelyn Cabinet
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Beer, E. S. de. The Diary of John Evelyn. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955. 6 Vols. Vol. I, pp. 53 - 54, Vol. II. pp. 191.
Hiscock, W. G. John Evelyn's Florentine Cabinet at Christ Church, Oxford. Connoisseur. August 1962. Vol. CL. pp. 221 - 223.
Boynton, Lindsay. Some documented pieces of English furniture: 1. Furniture owned by John Evelyn. Antiques. April 1971, Vol. XCIX, No.4. pp. 562 - 566.
Radcliffe, Anthony and Peter Thornton. John Evelyn's Cabinet. Connoisseur. April 1978. Vol. CXCVI. pp. 254 - 261.
Wilk, Christopher (ed.). Western Furniture: 1350 to the Present Day. London: V&A Publications and Philip Wilson, 1996. pp. 62-63
Exhibition History
Masterpieces from the British Galleries at the V&A (British Antique Dealer's Association Fair 21/03/2001-27/03/2001)
Labels and date
Cabinet
Oak, veneered with ebony, Inlaid marble panels, gilt bronze and brass mounts.
Italian (Florence) and French (Paris); 1644 - 52.
W24-1977
Purchased from the Simpson Bequest.
From the collection of the diarist, connoisseur and writer John Evelyn (1620 - 1706). Royalist in his sympathies, Evelyn spent much of the Civil War and Commonwealth travelling abroad. He purchased the nineteen inlaid marble panels from their maker Domenico Benotti in Florence in 1644, and the cabinet was probably made their to accomodate them, The cabinet was later extended, probably in Paris between 1646 and 1652, to take the gilt bronze reliefs of animals by Francesco Fanelli (active c.1609 - 1665) which include a relief of Orpheus charming the animals on the inner door. [ca.1987]
Production Note
The diarist, John Evelyn (1620-1706), travelled extensively in France and Italy between 1643 and 1652. In Florence he bought hard-stone floral panels made in Italy by Domenico Benotti and had them incorporated into this cabinet, possibly adding later the bronze plaques made by Francesco Fanelli.
Materials
Oak; Pine; Ebony; Ormolu; Ebonized pine
Techniques
Veneering; Cabinet making; Pietre dure
Subjects depicted
Bird; Flowers (plants); Lion; Putti; Festoons; Animals; Butterfly; Hercules; Fountain; Dog (animal); Columns (architectural elements); Jupiter; Acorns; Masks (design elements); Griffins; Boar; Juno; Orpheus; Lioness; Ass (animal); Cow (animal); Parrot (bird); Horse (animal); Bull (animal); Kingfisher (bird); Cupola; Gold finch (bird); Jay (bird)
Categories
Furniture
Production Type
Unique
Collection code
FWK
