Cabinet stand
Category
Furniture
Date
1650 - 1660
Materials
Oak, cedar, ivory veneer
Measurements
85.2 x 139 x 48.8 cm
Place of origin
The Hague
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1139080.2
Summary
A cabinet stand, circa 1650-60, veneered with rippled plaques and strips of ivory arranged geometrically, opening with two frieze drawers, each with a brass foliate keyhole, on five legs in the form of square columns of Doric inspiration, joined by a flat stretcher, on bun feet. The architectural design of the stand is reminiscent of the classicism of the leading Dutch architects Jacob van Campen (1596-1657) and Pieter Post (1608-1669). This mid-seventeenth-century ivory cabinet on stand is exceptional, there is no other example known. Its simple form and its large scale combined with the decorative effect of the arrangement of the ivory plaques and strips have led to suggest Northern Netherlands as its origin. In the mid-seventeenth century ivory was in demand in Holland for the decoration of fine cabinet work but there is no record of furniture solely veneered with this very costly material. However, a set of furniture veneered with ivory was brought from Brazil by Count Johan Maurits of Naussau-Siegen as he returned in 1644, after eight years as Governor. He installed his set of ivory furniture in his house at The Hague (nowadays known as the Mauritshuis) where it was greatly admired. Consequently, the cabinet at Ham House may have been created in The Hague in the 1650s, following the sensation made by the Brazilian set of ivory veneered furniture.
Provenance
First described in the 1677 inventory, it must have come to the house after 1655 when the first inventory was compiled. In 1677 it was in the North Drawing Room but was moved to the State Bed Chamber soon after: "One white Ivory Cabinet wth. a paragon Case [& annotated] put in ye queens Chamber". As can be seen in a watercolour by H.W Brewer, it was in the North Drawing Room in 1886 (private collection). Acquired in 1948 by HM Government when Sir Lyonel, 4th Bt (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886 – 1969) presented Ham House to the National Trust, and entrusted to the care of the Victoria & Albert Museum, until 1990, when returned to the care of the National Trust, and to which ownership was transferred in 2002.
Marks and inscriptions
'Repaired by Tiller' - typed label on underside of cabinet.
References
Baarsen 2013: Reinier Baarsen, 'Seventeenth-Century European Cabinet-Making at Ham House' in Christopher Rowell (ed.), Ham House 400 Years of Collecting and Patronage, Yale, 2013, pp.194-203
