Images(9)

Beadwork Cabinet

Date1650-1675

OriginEngland

MediumOpaque and translucent glass beads, silk threads on silk ground, wooden frame, metallic braid, silk, velvet, paper, glass

DimensionsOH: 7" x OL: 12 1/8" x OW: 9 7/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1954-854

DescriptionThis is a beadwork cabinet entirely covered in miniscule beads. The lid shows a man and woman flanking a well. They are Rebecca and Eliezer at the well. In the (viewer's) left corner is a house with a red brick roof. The two figures are surrounded by trees, flowers, and insects including caterpillars and snails. The front of the cabinet shows two running dogs (or a dog chasing a hare) among flowers and leaves. Below this, covering the body of the box, is a bird with its wings outstretched, surrounded by flowers and leaves. The bird is perched atop a tree growing multicolored bunches of grapes. The right side features a snail with a yellow and blue shell surrounded by flowers and a plant with two strawberries. Below this is a spotted leopard flanked by two trees, one of which has pears growing. There are blue clouds above the leopard. The back of the cabinet shows a dog chasing a hare among a landscape of leaves and flowers. Below, on the body of the cabinet, is a parrot perched on a tree with two fruits. Surrounding the parrot is a variety of flowers and an insect with six legs. The left side shows a butterfly amidst leaves. Below is a lion surrounded by leaves and several flowers. A portion of the beads that make up the lion's tail are missing. Above the lion is a single blue cloud.

Opening the lid reveals containers for writing implements and bottles. The interior of the lid is missing its mirror. The compartments are lined in salmon-colored silk and pink paper. All visible parts of the wooden frame are covered in embossed silver paper. This unit has a large central cavern with two narrow spaces above and two metal boxes for ink and sand, a space for blotting paper, and a pen tray below. This unit with metal boxes can be removed to reveal a cavern beneath. In the bottom right and left corners are spaces for one glass bottle each. On the right and left sides of the central cavern are two shallow spaces. The vertical portions of wood that separate them from the central cavern can be removed to reveal drawers that can pull out into the central cavern. There is a rectangular box in the central cavern that would have originally fit into one of the shallow side spaces, but which no longer fits because of how its wood has aged. It is topped with worn out velvet, indicating that it is a pin cushion. At the bottom of the container is a smaller container that can be pulled out via a fabric pull.

This entire unit can be removed to reveal a cavern lined in a hand-colored print. Three sides of the cavern have looking glass and one side has a cut up portion of another print. The print shows four figures, two on the left side and two on the right, in front of contemporary buildings flanking a single farmer or sower in the background. The two figures on the left are a younger man in a red shawl with an older, bearded man gesticulating. On the right side is a shirtless man gesturing to an old man in a defensive gesture.

The front of the box can be lowered to reveal three rows of drawers, all faced with salmon-colored velvet and edged with metallic tape. All portions of the wooden frame that are visible are covered in embossed silver paper. The top drawer cannot be opened, as it holds the body of the contents visible when the lid is lifted. The second row of drawers features three drawers, each with a small fabric pull. All three drawers can be pulled out to reveal two secret drawers. Behind the left-hand drawer is a compartment whose bottom is lined with salmon-colored silk. The rest of the sides are covered with pink paper. Inside the compartment are five plush quadrants that were originally used to hold rings. Behind the middle and right-hand drawer is a long, skinny compartment that is lined with salmon-colored silk and covered with pink paper. The bottom drawer is just a single drawer with a fabric pull in its middle. It is deep and narrow. The interior of the front of the box that is lowered to reveal these drawers is lined with salmon-colored silk stamped with diagonal lines and shell motifs.

The cabinet is missing its feet. All borders are edged with metallic braid.
Label TextThis casket, featuring a depiction of Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well and a wide variety of flora and fauna, is entirely covered in beads. This kind of needlework, called beadwork, was commonly practiced by teenaged girls from wealthy families in late seventeenth-century England. The faces and hands of the two human figures are made of needlework instead of beads, indicating that the box's maker either took the faces and hands from another piece of needlework or made them specifically for this box. The box's maker crafted human figures, animals, insects, plants, and flowers out of miniscule beads, resulting in scenes that still maintain their vibrancy and glistening richness.
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MarkingsNone