The present lot belongs to a group of richly carved cabinets designed in the Louis XIV 'antique' style promoted by architects such as Delorme. A related cabinet supported on a similar stand is thought to have been commissioned in the 1640's from the court workshops at the Louvre for the Duchesse de Mazarin (see Th. H. Lusingh Scheurleer, 'Novels in Ebony' Warburg Journal, 1956, p. 50, fig. d). The latter was inspired by biblical scenes after engravings by Simon Vouet (d. 1649). A similar cabinet inlaid with the date 1644 and carved with biblical scenes inspired by engravings by Cornelius Bos (d. 1564), has been tentatively attributed to the ébéniste Girard Marot (see N. Penny, Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1992, no. 287). Other cabinets with profane narratives are in Windsor Castle and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Representing 'Love's Triumph, the present cabinet is enriched with scenes of Sacred and Profane Love from both the New Testament and allegorical narratives. The other known cabinets appear to conform to either devotional or allegorical subject which makes the present lot unusual.