Lot Essay
In Portuguese company records, these chests are called 'Scrutores'. Cabinets identical to these in form but varying in decoration were made at many of the Portuguese settlements in the East- in India and China as well as Japan- yet there is no known prototype or parallel in any indigenous oriental tradition. European models were used of which there are indications that the prototype was ultimatley of German origin. In 1610 the Frenchman Pyrard de Laval described among furniture exported to the East Indies 'cabinets of all patterns in the fashion of those made in Germany - a la mode de ceux d'Allegmagne...' This claim of German origin is supported by other evidence. For instance it is known that German cabinets were popular in Spain and Portugal in the 16th Century and it is recorded that Queen Isabella of Spain imported many 'escritorios' and cabinets from Germany