The cabinet is veneered in cocus-wood, a hard, dense wood with a chocolate brown heart and yellow sapwood, often referred to, erroneously, as laburnum. It was imported from the West Indies and was often known as West Indian ebony. It was used as a cabinet wood between 1660-1740 and in this case the timber has been sawn lengthways to provide a decoratively striped veneer (see A. Bowett, 'Myths of English Furniture History: Laburnum Wood Furniture', Antique Collecting, June 1998, pp. 22-23).
A cabinet of the same form, described as laburnum, was sold anonymously Sotheby's, London, 15 June 1984, lot 92.