LATE 17TH CENTURY

The form of this fine late 17th-century cabinet-on-stand with its distinctive moulded cornice recalls ebony table cabinets from Antwerp, then part of the Dutch Republic, which feature a similarly shaped top (illustrated M. Riccardi-Cubitt, The Art of the Cabinet, London, 1992, fig. 32). The use of kingwood veneers rather than cocuswood (commonly used in Britain) may also suggest a Continental origin, furthermore this is supported by the manner in which the veneers are affixed with small wooden pins, a practice not generally used in Britain. The appearance of oyster-shaped veneers in Continental craftsmanship points to the latter part of the 17th Century where Dutch makers appear to have adopted the technique of oyster veneering later than their English counterparts (P. Solomons, J. Broughton, ‘Cocuswood and kingwood cabinets of the early restoration period’, Furniture History Society, 2014, p. 66). The use of ripple cut mouldings bordering the drawer fronts rather than half-round mouldings also support this date and origin. However, the drawers are fitted with bifurcated scroll drop handles, which generally suggest English cabinet-work, as do other elements of the design, although a large ebony cabinet at Ham House, Surrey, probably Dutch and from the Hague, has these handles which appear to be original (ibid., p. 67). Thus, it is not possible to definitively identify the origin of this fascinating cabinet which bears witness to the immensely close links which existed between Britain and the Dutch Republic towards the close of the 17th century.

The interior of the long inner drawer at the base of the cabinet, which is lined with red silk quilting, is uncommon in a cabinet-on-stand or table cabinet. Similar quilting is found in early 18th-century English coffers, the exterior often covered in Russia leather, intended as a repository for linen or textiles, or is used to line strong boxes for jewels etc. such as those dating from the 1670s at Ham House, Surrey. In this example, it seems likely the drawer was for precious and fragile ‘curiosities’ or textiles. The stand with fret cut frieze and bobbin-turned legs is closely related to the stand of a cocuswood-veneered cabinet at Powis Castle, Powys, and also to an almost identical cocuswood veneered cabinet to the latter in a private collection (ibid., pp. 57, 59, figs. 7, 8). The date of this cabinet combined with the relative proximity of Linley to Powys Castle presents the tantalising possibility that this may have been in the More family for its entire existence and could be one of few remaining furnishings from the previous Linley Hall, Demolished in the mid-!8th century to make way for the present house.