THE CABINET THIRD QUARTER 17TH CENTURY, THE STAND LATER

Grand and regal in appearance, richly decorated with carving and engraving, and with a multi-coloured perspective concealed in its interior, this is a classic example of the great ebony cabinet that dominated veneered furniture production in Paris during the first half of the 17th century. The first menuisiers en ébène or ébénistes established themselves in the French capital around 1610-1620. Most of them came from the Southern or Northern Netherlands or from Germany, countries where the art of veneering furniture with exotic woods had already been practised for at least a generation; although amongst them they established an unmistakably Parisian type of cabinet, yet their work retains many traces of their foreign origins. On the present piece, the winged strapwork cartouches containing bulbous shields and hung with draperies in the borders of the main doors, and the related motifs in the upper corners, have a distinct Netherlandish flavour.

These large cabinets, generally about two metres high, were to remain in favour for a surprisingly long period, and a fairly large number survive. The type was probably established by 1620 and did not go out of fashion before 1650. Several attempts have been made to distinguish particular groups among the examples known at present, and perhaps even establish a chronology, but the variations that may be recognized seem to a certain extent to have been made simultaneously, and many existing cabinets do not fit easily into any of the groupings that have been proposed (D. Alcouffe, 'Il Rinascimento', in: D. Alcouffe a.o., Il mobile francese dal Medioevo al 1925, Milan 1981, pp. 10-25; D. Alcouffe, 'La naissance de l'ébénisterie: les cabinets d'ébéne', in exh. cat. Un temps d'exubérance, Les arts décoratifs sous Louis XIII et Anne d'Autriche, Paris (Galeries nationales du Grand Palais) 2002, pp. 212-217 and cat.nos. 135-139 and 142).

Highly typical for all cabinets of this type is the prominence of the carved decoration, a feature already present in sixteenth-century furniture-making in France, examplified by the elaborately sculpted walnut armoires made in Dijon, Lyon, Paris and elsewhere. With the advent of ebony furniture, further development was to centre solely on Paris, the other cities receding into provincial insignificance. Both the concentration of a sophisticated and demanding clientèle in the capital and the availability of the costly tropical wood must have contributed to this phenomenon. The carving, generally highly accomplished and ambitious, may represent mythological themes or subjects from contemporary literature (Th.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, 'Novels in ebony', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 19 (1965), pp. 259-268). In the present case, the main scenes are religious: the Annunciation and the Adoration of the Shepherds, arranged somewhat curiously in the wrong order. An unusual aspect are the single animals on most of the interior drawers, their symmetrical disposition resulting in a remarkably clear and unified all-over impression that greets the spectator upon opening the doors.

In general, the present cabinet stands out through its classically measured, beautifully balanced aspect. Whereas the progression within the various groups of ebony cabinets that have been put together has been defined through the increasing elaboration of the rippled surrounds separating the various scenes represented on their doors, here only a single, plain, cruciform frame is employed on both doors, but it is immediately clear that this does not denote an early or primitive phase. The large, easily readable figures have a classical dignity and elegance and impart a great clarity to the two main doors, which are bordered above and below by continuous friezes. Highly unusual, the religious scenes are even flanked by elegant figures reminiscent of the style of the painter Simon Vouet, and the surrounds of the two doors largely resemble each other.

Typically, the reverse of the doors, occupying a less important place in the architectural hierarchy observed within the entire cabinet, does not have carved scenes with figures, but engraved landscapes and flowers. Another such scene is employed at the centre of the back to the stand. Attention is drawn towards the interior: the two inner doors open to reveal a recess, a so-called caisson, decorated in various materials with an architectural perspective with a view of a fountain in a garden, with niches for the display of small statuettes. Veneered with intricate patterns in ivory and horn, partly stained green, and different exotic woods, this caisson - and others like it - is the true birthplace of French polychrome marquetry. In the middle of the back of the doors, landscapes are engraved in the brown wood, just as they are on the ebony elsewhere. This polychrome, richly fashioned inner recess, fitted with secret drawers, was the ultimate delight offered by the owner to his guests when showing them his cabinet, an apotheosis denoting the privilege he accorded them.

In its earliest form, the European cabinet with many drawers had a fall-front and was fitted with handles for use as a travelling writing desk (Reinier Baarsen, 17th-century cabinets, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 2000, pp. 2-9). In Southern Germany, the main centre for the production of such pieces, a cabinet was therefore known as a Schreibtisch. Although the monumental Parisian cabinets were obviously far removed from such practical beginnings, some of them - the present one included - retain a memory of these origins in the presence of a pull-out writing slide. This was probably used to display some of the treasures kept in the drawers, rather than for writing. The star pattern on the slide of this cabinet highlights the Netherlandish origins of Parisian ébénisterie.

We are grateful to Dr Reinier Baarsen for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.