Cabinet on stand, trapezoidal in plan, the cabinet inlaid with panels of pietre dure brought from Italy, the framing elements and stand veneered with satinwood inlaid with arabesque ornament in various woods, the mounts of gilt brass

Cabinet of mahogany and oak with marquetry in satinwood and rosewood, designed to display eleven Florentine pietra dura panels made by Baccio Cappelli in 1709. It has ormolu mounts. It is so designed that the panels appear to suggest drawer and cupboard fronts, although the only real doors are the two in the angled ends.

Purchase funded by the Vallentin Bequest

Designed by Robert Adam (born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, 1728, died in London, 1792). Commissioned by Elizabeth, Duchess of Manchester (1730-1832), for their London House. Cabinet made in London by the firm of John Mayhew and William Ince; mounts made in Birmingham by Matthew Boulton (born in Soho, Birmingham, 1728, died there in 1809). In a 1790 inventory of Kimbolton Castle, the cabinet was placed in the state bedroom, described as a 'cabinet of inlaid marbles, mounted in Ormolu, very fine'.

Work by Lindsay Boynton, Nicholas Goodison, and by Hugh Roberts and Charles Cator (see references) has documented the commission for this cabinet in detail. The panels may have been acquired by the 4th Duke (1737-1788) during his tour of Italy in 1758, or may have been inherited from his father (the 3rd Duke) or his uncles (the 2nd Duke), both of whom undertook Grand Tours.
The commission to Adam is known by two drawings, now in the Soane Museum, a rough sketch of part of the front, and a finished drawing showing the mounts highlighted with yellow wash on the PR side only. Adam annotated this drawing: 'Design of a Cabinet for Her Grace The Duchess of Manchester made to receive Eleven pieces of Scagliola [sic] Landscapes, the parts Shaded Yellow shew what may be gilt or done in Brass or Or Moulu. The plain parts may be executed in woods of various kinds.' The drawing is dated.
The commission was not progressed until 1771, three years later. The decision os Ince and Mayhew to use Matthew Boulton to produce the mounts (for which there are no payments from the Duke) is evidenced in correspondence between Matthew Boulton and Ince and Mayhew beginning in 1774, which documents the design, manufacture and delivery of the mounts, clearly under the direction of Ince and Mayhew.
The capitals are based on plate XLIX of Robert Adam's Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian, a copy of which Boulton had purchased in 1765.
The partners sent a drawing, incorporating revisions, to Soho in November 1774, with a letter requesting an estimate for ormolu ornaments. The arcaded base shown in the 1771 drawing had been replaced by 6 tapering legs and the cabinet narrowed in depth, with access to the interior not via drawers (as Adam may have envisaged) but from the sides. This drawing, which has not survived, may have been by William Ince, not Adam, as details were queried to them. The ormolu was estimated at £70 and £75 and was estimated to be ready in two months. In fact, they were sent to Ince and Mayhew in October 1775, invoiced at £73.11, later increased to £78.12.6 at Ince and Mayhew's request, to allow them a profit on the transaction. The stars on the central frieze were apparently lost in transit and had to be re-made. The account between the firms was not settled until 1784.

Sold by the Duke of Manchester, Kimbolton Castle house sale, Knight Frank & Rutley, 18–21 July 1949, lot 314. Sold to the V&A by John Bly, Tring, 23 August 1949.

A mahogany cabinet of tallboy form, with two glazed doors over three long drawers, dated as mid-18th century British, and set with a similar set of pietre albarese panels showing animals, was sold from the collection of Patricia Kluge, Albermarle House, Charlottesville, VA, USA, by Sotheby's, 8/9 June 2010, lot 56. That cabinet showed 9 rectangular panels (as on the Manchester cabinet), set on drawers surrounding a cupboard with a larger vertical panel, set below a drawer with an arched panel. That cabinet had an extra frieze above of four panels showing buildings, probably added from another set of panels. Images are filed in departmental files for the Manchest cabinet.

Object Type
Cabinets were usually fitted with many drawers and used to store small curiosities. However, the inside of the Kimbolton Cabinet is an empty space with a door at each side. It was used purely for show and to display a series of pietra dura plaques on the outside. Although the marquetry and inlay are so lavish, the gilt-bronze mounts by Matthew Boulton cost even more than the actual cabinet.

Materials & Techniques
The pietra dura plaques include a selection of different marbles and hardstones. The first stage in preparing this work would have been to make a full-size working drawing. Paper cut-outs, traced from the drawing, were then glued to selected slices of stone. The stone pieces were placed in a vice and cut with a bow-saw, then placed face down on a flat surface. A single piece of slate was stuck to the back of the design to form a support when it was turned over. Finally, the front of the plaque was rubbed smooth with fine abrasives. This type of work had been a speciality of Florence since the 16th century.

Place
Kimbolton Castle was first built in 1525. It was remodelled by Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726), the playwright and architect of Blenheim Palace, between 1707 and 1710. Robert Adam, in addition to this cabinet, designed the gatehouse and entrance screen for the castle in 1764-1765.

W.43:1to2-1949