The historicism style of this cocktail cabinet evokes late seventeenth-century cabinets on stands. The interior is mirrored and fitted with a light that switches on automatically when the doors are opened. The contrast between the traditional exterior and the slightly racy interior fittings has a theatrical quality that suggests that this piece was intended for use when the owners had visitors.

The cabinet was a private commission for a North London couple, and is very different from the majority of furniture that Hille produced after World War 2. The company's factory on the edge of the City of London burnt down during the Blitz, and the hiatus caused by this calamity was used to reconsider the company's direction. As a result, Ray Hille, the owner who had designed much of the firm's pre-War production, hired a young designer awarded a prize by the Museum of Modern Art in New York for low-cost furniture. With this designer, Robin Day, Hille went on to create a range of affordable contemporary furniture which exploited new manufacturing processes like the injection moulding of plastic. Day continues to collaborate with Hille which now produces mainly office furniture and public seating.