An early 17th c. Italian ebony and ivory inlaid cabinet

Travelling cabinet veneered with Macassar ebony and ivory.
Lombardy, Italy, early 17th century
Dimensions : h. 34cm, l. 43 cm, p. 31 cm

This precious cabinet opens with a fall-front top revealing five drawers, the lower row constituting a single drawer, and in the center a small door revealing a niche with two drawers. The interior drawers, thanks to an ingenious system, conceal a secret drawer.

Each drawer as well as the interior of the fall-front top is decorated with ivory marquetry on an ebony background of flowers springing from a vase in frames of leafy scrolls. They are fitted with bronze pull knobs in the shape of goat heads biting the rings.
The exterior of the fall-front top receives a neat decoration of arabesques, volutes, flowers, stylized vase in ivory on an ebony background.
This alternation of marquetry brings a sophisticated touch to the whole.
The sides and tops are in ebony veneer and inlaid with ivory threads, all forming rectangles.
The carrying handles are formed of stylized lion mouths holding the swinging part presenting a cherub's head in its center.
Openwork brass spandrels are positioned at the corners of the cabinet.

Very good original condition
Cabinets with similar decoration are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Museum of Decorative Arts, Milan.