Antwerp Cabinet circa 1640/50

Antwerp
Second quarter of the 17th Century Ca. 1640/50

Ebony veneer Oil on panel Bone Silk and gold and silver tread On later stand
H. 49,5 cm. H. 132,5 cm. (incl. stand) H.156,5 (open)
W. 62 cm. (closed) W. 114 cm. (open) D. 32 cm.

PROVENANCE
With J. Zeberg Antiques NV Antwerp 1987
Private collection, Antwerp

REFERENCE LITERATURE
Fabri, R. (1989). Zuid-nederlandse pronkmeubels. 16de – 18de eeuw. Brussel, pp. 28-30, pp. 161-162, cat. nr. 20 and 21;
Fabri, R. (1991). De 17de-eeuwse Antwerpse kunstkast. Typologische en historische aspecten. Brussel: AWLsK, pp. 69-71, ill. 40-41
Fabri, R. (1993,). De 17de-eeuwse Antwerpse kunstkast. Kunsthistorische aspecten. Brussel: AWLsK, p. 154

EXPERTISE
With an expertise by Mrs J. Zeberg, Vice-president of the Chambre Royale des Antiquaires de Belgique, dd. 25 February 1987

CATALOGUE NOTE
This cabinet has two doors, with on the reverse embroidered silk featuring floral patterns. The inside reveals ten drawers with pastoral landscape paintings. At the top, a compartment with on the reverse a mirror and at each side a picture depicting a landscape. The handles at each side are indicate use for travelling, but were mainly decorative. This attractive and elaborately decorated cabinet is an excellent example of the highly skilled furniture-making practice that flourished in seventeenth-century Antwerp. Cabinets such as these functioned as decorative objects which could simultaneously allow wealthy patrons to display various prized objects, as well as store any personal documents in one of the numerous drawers. As objects for display, they were constructed of luxurious woods, the most highly prized being ebony, as is the case with the present example. Cabinet makers employed skilled painters to complete their creations with small pictures.