17th Century Antwerp Cabinet

Cabinet on foot, in veneer of red tortoiseshell and bone fillets on a frame of oak and coniferous trees. The sides are inlaid with exotic wood called "partridge wood", framed with bone fillets. It opens with two rows of five drawers arranged laterally, 2 drawers in the lower part, and 2 architectural drawers framing the central doors from above and below. The drawer fronts are framed by wavy moldings called "guilloche" in ebony, and without pull buttons. A cutout in the upper part of the drawers allows you to place the key to open the locks (rear) and pull them. The 2 doors with architectural decorations in semicircular arch are framed on both sides by sheaths supporting, in the middle a gilded wood baluster, and laterally bronze Atlanteans supporting a capital. These 2 doors open onto a perspective "theater", showing an interior architectural in mirrors framed by twisted columns in gilded wood with a checkered floor; on each side, a row of false drawers. This perspective leads us to a Cupid painted on wood in grisaille. The support table, from a later period (XIXth century), in blackened wood is composed of 4 inverted twisted columns, beginning and ending with bases and cushioning in turned and gilded wood. The belt of the table takes up the decor of the cabinet in trompe-l'oeil (for wood and red scale). At the junction of the table and the cabinet, a wooden inlaid tablet emerges underlined with bone fillets and a radiant star in its center. The 17th century, the golden century in Holland and the Netherlands, saw the development of the Fine Arts and the decorative arts. Ports like Ghent, Antwerp or even Bruges are growing and becoming very significant transit zones. The trade in works of art, handicrafts and the import of luxury goods became very important. From 1625, the Antwerp cabinetmakers became more innovative and excelled in the execution of these cabinets. These pieces of furniture were intended for the local market made up of bourgeois, wealthy merchants, aristocrats but also for the export market. Antwerp work from the 17th century. The base and the 19th century tablet, locks and later keys. Height: 172 cm. Width: 129 cm. Depth: 48 cm. Worldwide delivery possible.