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Lot Essay
The landscape vignettes which adorn the interior of this impressive cabinet-on-stand include figurative subjects inspired by classical and Renaissance poets, such as 'The History of Pan and Syrinx' from Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Io, another of Jupiter's loves, is depicted on the left door as a heifer, further to her transformation into the animal by Jupiter in a vain attempt to hide her from the jealous Hera. Io watches her guardian Argos as he is lulled to sleep by Mercury's music.
The subject depicted to the right door would appear to represent Europa's flower-gathering companions watching her abduction, which scene is depicted to the interior of the hinged top.
The later Elizabethan stand, with jewelled frieze and bobbin-turned pillars, is designed in the early 19th century antique Elizabethan fashion, as popularised by R. Bridgens (see R. Bridgens, Furniture with Candelabra and Interior Decoration, London, 1838).
Io, another of Jupiter's loves, is depicted on the left door as a heifer, further to her transformation into the animal by Jupiter in a vain attempt to hide her from the jealous Hera. Io watches her guardian Argos as he is lulled to sleep by Mercury's music.
The subject depicted to the right door would appear to represent Europa's flower-gathering companions watching her abduction, which scene is depicted to the interior of the hinged top.
The later Elizabethan stand, with jewelled frieze and bobbin-turned pillars, is designed in the early 19th century antique Elizabethan fashion, as popularised by R. Bridgens (see R. Bridgens, Furniture with Candelabra and Interior Decoration, London, 1838).