A Queen Anne double domed bureau cabinet headed by silvered finials and decorated throughout with gilded chinoiseries on a scarlet ground. The upper part with a pair of shaped mirrored doors enclosing an interior fitted with pigeonholes, folio racks and small drawers around a central cupboard flanked by columns.
The lower part with of a pair of candle slides, is similarly fitted with an inset panel of silk velvet. Fitted with brass handles and escutcheons and standing on bun feet.
INFORMATION
The courts and nobility of Europe had long been fascinated by the exoticism and mystery of the Orient. The huge growth in trade through the Dutch East India Company in the late 17th Century stimulated interest and demand further; of particular popularity was interest in ‘chinoiserie’. Along with spices and porcelain that were imported at this time were lacquer screens and cabinets.These pieces were sought after by society, and so of particular interest to the cabinet makers in England. They created similar examples in a technique called Japanning. Japanning was popularized further by the publication of 'A Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing' by John Stalker & George Parker, which describes in detail the process of Japanning. This publication still remains a key reference book for the technique even today.
Huge growth in the Dutch East India Company, known in Dutch as Vereenidge Oost-indische Compagnie or VOC, helped fuel a booming trade from China & Japan during the early and mid-part of the 18th Century
This cabinet was made around 1715-1720, and interestingly it was at this time that the share price of the VOC reached an all-time high of around 642 guilders.
English & European nobility would have obviously been aware of the surge of imports coming from China & Japan, and this interest manifested itself in their lives through the fashion for drinking tea, and experimenting with new spices, and colourful fabrics.
For many of the English nobility though sampling and tasting products from China, only heightened their interest in these mysterious worlds, and they sought examples of what life was like in these exotic countries. This interest was met through architects designing buildings with Chinese influences, and artists and cabinet makers creating paintings and furniture depicting the way of life.
The cabinet above, depicts not only one scene, but multiple. Looking at the exterior of the cabinet we see landscapes and seascapes with junks, scenes of domestic life that show the fashions that were worn, and details of architecture. The interior is also profusely decorated, with birds of prey, plants and further scenes of houses and people. One can only imagine how fascinating and informative this cabinet would have been to people living in England in the early 18th Century.
A similar model and decorated red japanned cabinet, can be seen in the collection of Erddigg House in Wales.