Images(8)

Embroidered Cabinet

Date1650-1675

OriginEngland

MediumSilk threads on a silk and paper ground, metallic braid, metal purl, wood, metal, pewter, glass, hand-colored print, silk and paper lining, looking glass, embossed paper

DimensionsOH: 7.5" x OL: 10.5" x OW: 8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1960-370

DescriptionThis is a cabinet with doors and a lid that open. The lid is flat rather than domed, resulting in an entirely rectangular cabinet. The front doors of the cabinet feature two of the "Five Senses." The female figure on the (viewer's) left holds in her hand a flower. She is dressed in seventeenth-century clothing and is framed in exaggeratedly large drapery. She is the personification of Smell. The female figure on the right door wears a similar costume and holds in her right hand a bunch of fruit and in her left hand a single pear. She is the personification of Taste. This side still maintains a lock and keyhole. The right side of the cabinet shows a female figure playing a lute and a man standing (or sitting -- the man's body position is unclear) with a finger in the air. This side is heavily deteriorated, so the thin layer of paper on which the maker stitched is visible. The paper has a visible underdrawing, as well as numbers and letters throughout the drawing. The female and male figures are separated by a vertical line down the length of the side. Each tableau features a sun with a face, clouds, and winding flowers and leaves. The back has stylized flowers made of couched and laid work. Two flowers have leaves made of thin green satin. The left side of the cabinet shows two standing women facing each other in a space with three large draperies.

The cabinet's lid features a woman playing a lute. She is the personification of Hearing. She sits in front of a castle and is surrounded by the leaves of a blossoming tree. She is framed within a cartouche of metal purl. Outside the cartouche is a scrolling leaf and flower design. The lid maintains its two small carrying handles. The vertical sides of the lid are also entirely decorated. The front portion has a flower, butterfly, tree, grotto, and fish. The right side of the lid is heavily deteriorated, showing the wooden layer and draftsman's drawing. It shows three flowers and a strawberry plant. The back of the lid features a stylized floral pattern made of couched and laid work. The left side shows three flowers and a plant growing grapes.

The interior of the cabinet's doors are covered in salmon-colored silk. Opening the doors reveals three rows of drawers. Each one is covered in salmon-colored velvet and edged with metallic braid. The portions of the wooden frame that are visible are covered with silver embossed paper. The top drawer has its original lock and keyhole. The drawer itself cannot be opened, but inserting a key into the keyhole and turning it can open the lid. The second row of drawers features three drawers. Each has a metal circular pull. The middle and right-hand drawers can be removed to reveal a secret compartment behind. Each drawer, including the secret one, is lined with pink silk on the bottom and covered in gray-purple paper on all other sides. The bottom drawer is also lined with pink silk and covered on the outside with gray-purple paper. It is a single drawer with a metal circular pull. It is long, deep, and thin.

Opening the lid reveals a cavern lined with a colored print of mermaids, mermen, ships, and sea creatures. The sides of the cavern are lined with mirrors. The interior of the lid is lined with salmon-colored silk and has a detachable mirror. The trapezoidal cavern can be removed to reveal a secret cavern, also lined with pink silk. To the left of the mirrored space is a rectangular compartment that can be opened with the pull at its center. It is covered in salmon-pink velvet and edged with metallic braid. To the other side of the cavern is a pin cushion, also made of salmon velvet and edged with metallic braid. It can be removed to reveal a secret compartment. There is also a hidden, miniscule compartment at the bottom of the pin cushion, which is revealed when the pin cushion is taken out of its place in the wooden frame. Like the drawer area, all visible areas of the wooden frame are covered in embossed silver paper. Below the cavern are two metal boxes, used for ink and sand. They flank a small rectangular space lined with salmon-colored silk. There is a long, narrow space above the boxes and rectangular space originally used to store writing paper or letters. This area can be taken out to reveal a hidden compartment underneath, lined with salmon-colored silk and gray-purple paper. In the bottom left and right corners are two square boxes filled with one glass bottle with a pewter cap each.

The lid and front doors of the cabinet feature embroidery stitched onto a silk ground, while the sides of the cabinet feature embroidery stitched directly onto paper.

Stitches: couched, French knots, laid, satin
Label TextThis embroidered casket is an example of the embroidery that was popular in England in the second half of the seventeenth century. The casket was likely the final project in the needlework education of a schoolgirl, who was probably 11 or 12 years old when she embroidered the box. The lid, domed portion, and front doors lift open to reveal cabinets, drawers, and secret compartments in which the cabinet's owner would have stored her most prized possessions such as gems, letters, jewelry, writing implements, and toiletries. The cabinet is embroidered with three of the Five Senses. Smell holds a flower, Taste holds fruit, and Sound plays a lute, and all three wear popular fashions of the mid-seventeenth century.

Stitched in Time:
In the 17th century, a young woman whose family had the means to finance her education might complete her needlework schooling by embroidering a casket or cabinet. Drawing on all aspects of her needlework education, the maker worked several panels, often using silk and metallic thread. The panels were then sent to a cabinetmaker for assembly. The finished product afforded young women a bit of privacy, with compartments for jewelry, letters, writing instruments, and more.

The unknown maker of this box made full use of her education, using French knots, satin, and laid and couched stitches to work a mix of figural, floral, and geometric designs. This maker, like the maker of the adjacent needlework picture, depicted the senses: Smell, Taste, and Sound.
InscribedNone
MarkingsNone
ProvenanceC. John (Mayfair, London, England); 1960-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)