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Lot Essay
The two-door cabinet enclosing small drawers is one of the most successful examples of authentic Asian design that was suitable for domestic use in Europe. In Japan and China these cabinets usually stood on the floor. This piece, rare in that it retains its carved cresting, is an excellent example of how the cabinet was adapted by adding a decoratively carved silvered cresting and stand to the strict rectangular form of the cabinet creating a balanced aesthetic. This particular design for a stand came into fashion in the late 17th century and carried on into the early 18th century, making the present example from circa 1680 a very early example of this style. The columnar legs and arched stretchers also feature on pier tables and chairs of this date.
A cabinet with remarkably similar stand and cresting formerly in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and now at Temple Newsam House, Leeds is illustrated in P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1954, rev. ed., vol. I, pl. III, p. 176, fig. 24.
A cabinet with remarkably similar stand and cresting formerly in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and now at Temple Newsam House, Leeds is illustrated in P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1954, rev. ed., vol. I, pl. III, p. 176, fig. 24.