Title
Flemish Cabinet on Stand
Date
c. 1660
Description
A Flemish baroque silver and brass-mounted ebony red tortoiseshell and giltwood cabinet on stand (Antwerp, c. 1660). The interior is fitted with a parcel-gilt silver mirror arcade by Giovanni Batista Borrani or Turin, circa 1825. Borani is known for his work for the Royal House of Savoy (V. Donaver-R. Dabbene, Argenti italiani dell 1800. Vol. II, no. 449). The escutcheon above the central doors bears the traces of an English coat of arms below a baron’s coronet which appears to date from this period.
H: 68 1/4" W: 56 /4" D: 21"
The silver plaques mounted on the present cabinet do not bear any marks but appear to be from the same workshop as those on another cabinet, formerly in the collections of the Earls of Rosebery at Mentmore (sold ) and now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. In The Burlington Magazine, in May 1978, Anna Somers Cocks compares the two cabinets, pointing out that of the eight plaques on the drawers, four have the same subject: Acis and Galatea, Theseus and Andromeda, Glaucus and Scylla and Pyramus and Thisbe. Several of the plaques on the V & A cabinet are after Tempesta’s engravings for Ovid’s Metamorphoses; the plaques on the cabinet follow an engraved source. They are treated in a robust manner of high-relief embossing and chasing consistent with the high quality of Antwerp silver in the mid-17th century. The work can be compared with that on a ewer and basin by Theodoor de Raiser was descended in the family of Peter Paul Rubens (sold Sotheby’s Monaco, December 11, 1999 and Antwerp Huiszilver uit de 17e en 18e Eeuw. Ex. Cat. Rubenhuis, November 10, 1988-January 15, 1989, p. 67). The work may also be compared with a silver-gilt dish from the Niederhoffer Collection, catalogued as Italo-Flemish, circa 1640 (sold Sotheby’s New York, April 22, 1998, lot 133).
The use of tortoiseshell as a veneer originated in Ancient Rome, and when tinted with a red pigment was used extensively to decorate the grand and sumptuous cabinets that became so fashionable and sought-after during the mid to late 17th century. Antwerp was a major center for the production of these architectural cabinets (Monique Riccardi-Cubitt, The Art of the Cabinet, 1992, p. 81).
Tortoiseshell was frequently used in association with ebony veneers as on the present cabinet, and when further embellished with silver plaques to create the sumptuous effect associated with the high Baroque period. Scenes depicting the loves of the Gods from Ovid’s Metamorphoses was a favored subject, and Rubens himself had some panels painted for cabinets after his own work exploring Ovid’s theme (Ibid., p. 81).
H: 68 1/4" W: 56 /4" D: 21"
The silver plaques mounted on the present cabinet do not bear any marks but appear to be from the same workshop as those on another cabinet, formerly in the collections of the Earls of Rosebery at Mentmore (sold ) and now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. In The Burlington Magazine, in May 1978, Anna Somers Cocks compares the two cabinets, pointing out that of the eight plaques on the drawers, four have the same subject: Acis and Galatea, Theseus and Andromeda, Glaucus and Scylla and Pyramus and Thisbe. Several of the plaques on the V & A cabinet are after Tempesta’s engravings for Ovid’s Metamorphoses; the plaques on the cabinet follow an engraved source. They are treated in a robust manner of high-relief embossing and chasing consistent with the high quality of Antwerp silver in the mid-17th century. The work can be compared with that on a ewer and basin by Theodoor de Raiser was descended in the family of Peter Paul Rubens (sold Sotheby’s Monaco, December 11, 1999 and Antwerp Huiszilver uit de 17e en 18e Eeuw. Ex. Cat. Rubenhuis, November 10, 1988-January 15, 1989, p. 67). The work may also be compared with a silver-gilt dish from the Niederhoffer Collection, catalogued as Italo-Flemish, circa 1640 (sold Sotheby’s New York, April 22, 1998, lot 133).
The use of tortoiseshell as a veneer originated in Ancient Rome, and when tinted with a red pigment was used extensively to decorate the grand and sumptuous cabinets that became so fashionable and sought-after during the mid to late 17th century. Antwerp was a major center for the production of these architectural cabinets (Monique Riccardi-Cubitt, The Art of the Cabinet, 1992, p. 81).
Tortoiseshell was frequently used in association with ebony veneers as on the present cabinet, and when further embellished with silver plaques to create the sumptuous effect associated with the high Baroque period. Scenes depicting the loves of the Gods from Ovid’s Metamorphoses was a favored subject, and Rubens himself had some panels painted for cabinets after his own work exploring Ovid’s theme (Ibid., p. 81).
Cultural Origin
Flemish
Medium
ebony
tortoiseshell
silver
giltwood
brass
Extent
68 1/4" x 56 1/4" x 21"
Collection
Source
Gift of Dr. & Mrs. Samuel Mandel.
Identifier
PSNC.11499
Related Materials
Anna Somers Cocks, "Mentmore Silver-Mounted Cabinet", The Burlington Magazine (May 1978).
For more information about this item, please contact its owning institution.