LATE 19TH CENTURY

The inscription on one of the drawers of the interior of this cabinet indicates that this piece was probably originally part of the furnishings of the Paris residence of the Van Zuylens on 86, Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, and may have come to Kasteel de Haar in 1903, when seven crates of 'used' furniture arrived from Paris. Van Zuylen made a clear distinction in his correspondence between 'old' furniture or furniture which had already had been in use by the family and newly-acquired pieces as the former were exempt of import duties. On 31 July 1900, for instance, Van Zuylen writes: 'Les meubles qui sont en douane ont été 14 ans chez moi à Paris.