Cabinet
Cabinet: Augsburg (now Germany); internal panels: Eger, Bohemia (now Cheb, Czech Republic)
c. 1640–50
- Medium
- Ebony, ivory, pine, oak, fruitwood, walnut, iron, steel, silver, brass, gilded brass, tinned brass, glass, paper, silk textile, and bone
- Classification
- Furniture
- Dimensions
- Doors Open: 155 × 179.8 × 60.4 cm (61 × 70 3/4 × 23 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- Augsburg
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Applied Arts of Europe
- Credit line
- Anonymous Purchase Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This cabinet, with its architectural design evoking a tabletop palace, is among the largest of its kind. Its ornate decoration combines ebony wood and elephant ivory brought to Germany from Africa. So scarce and valuable were these materials in Europe that here only a thin veneer of ebony covers a carcass of locally sourced pine. This sophisticated method of veneering was perfected in the economic hub of Augsburg, where cabinetmakers worked closely with metalsmiths to develop tempered-steel saws that were both durable and precise enough for their work. The technique was quickly adopted by furniture makers throughout Europe.
The many compartments of this cabinet concealed all manner of precious objects. It acted as a luxurious vanity for the elite merchant or member of the nobility who owned it, a place where they could compose letters, maintain personal hygiene, and store treasured possessions. The lower drawers held writing materials, while the upper-right side still contains portions of an apothecary set. The objects displayed here include scalpels, a spoon, a strainer, an ear-and-fingernail scoop, a beaker, an enema syringe, a tongue scraper, medicine canisters, scissors, a…
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
