A Cabinet of Curiosity: an early English japanned cabinet in the collections of the NGV

Abstract

In 2004 the National Gallery of Victoria was gifted an early seventeenth-century English painted cabinet. It belongs to a small group of objects that represent some of the earliest known examples of imitations of Asian lacquer produced in England. Constructed from oak and pine, the cabinet takes the form of a small rectangular case with a triangular pediment. It is fitted with eight drawers in the body, surrounding a small central door, with a further drawer in the pediment. The cabinet shuts with a pair of side-hinged, central closing doors. It evidences two quite distinct styles of decoration, apparently executed at different times. The interior surfaces of the cabinet doors and the drawer..