Embroidered Raised Work Cabinet

Date1660-1680

OriginEngland

MediumSilk raised work and metallic threads on paper, braid, glass beads, silk embroidery threads, silk pile thread, silk purl, silk ribbon, linen underlining, paper ground, satin weave ground, mica, glass, pewter, pearl purl, oak

DimensionsOH: 13" x OW: 8 1/2" x OL: 11 3/4"

Credit LineBequest of Elizabeth Ridgely Blagojevich.

Object number1991-413

DescriptionThis is a needlework cabinet with a domed lid. The embroidery ground is paper rather than fabric, with the exception of one small strip of gold fabric on the left side and a regular fabric ground on the front sloped section. The lid, domed portion, and doors all open to reveal containers and drawers. The cabinet features female personifications of the Five Senses. The top of the lid shows the personification of Hearing, with a woman playing the lute in a cartouche. Outside the cartouche sit a camel, jaguar, dog, and stag. The condition of the lid seems to indicate that someone tried to restore the cabinet by painting over the animals. The sides of the lid show flowers, fruit, insects, and animals. The sloping portion of the lid shows, at the front, a lion with a curly mane and a bead eye and a mythological creature flanking a bouquet of flowers. The mythological creature accompanying the lion has wings, front legs that might be a bird's, back legs that might be a lion's, and possibly a lion's head, with a thick mane, glass eye, and possibly ears. The right side of that sloping portion shows a flower and a griffin made of metal purl and the left side shows a flower and stag (possibly painted over at a later time). The back of this sloping section shows a lion and unicorn flanking a thistle. The section below, the narrow horizontal section below the sloping portion, features alternating rectangles of flowers and animals. The left side portion of this section has a gold fabric ground and features a different style, indicating that it was most likely added at a later date.

The bottom part of the cabinet shows the rest of the personifications of the senses. The (viewer's) left door shows a woman holding a snake and surrounded by clouds, a tree, a flower, a rabbit, and birds. The right door shows a woman holding two birds on her hand. She is surrounded by two large flowers, a tree, and clouds. Both of these female figures represent the sense of Touch. On the right side panel is a woman sniffing a flower, accompanied by a dog sniffing the ground. She represents the sense of Smell. On the left side panel is another woman sniffing a flower, accompanied by a spotted leopard with a glass eye and flanked by two trees with birds. She also represents the sense of Smell. On the back are two women. The one on the left tastes fruit and is accompanied by a monkey doing the same. She is the personification of the sense of Taste. She stands next to a fountain, and on the other side of that fountain is a woman looking at herself in a mirror and accompanied by an eagle. She is the personification of the sense of Sight.

The two sections of gold fabric ground, on the left side of the exterior and the interior of the right door, seem to have been replacement portions of embroidery, made by another, less skilled needleworker. The cabinet maintains its four feet. Each embroidered panel is bordered by a crisscross pattern that is now a deeply tarnished silver tone.

The lid can be lifted to reveal a cavern lined with pink silk. The domed portion can be lifted to reveal a lid interior where there once was a mirror. Inside the domed portion is a space walled with mirrors and lined with a hand-colored print that is pasted upside down. On the left is a portion with vertical dividers, perhaps once used for rings. In front of the walled cavern is a section with two small metal boxes, once used to hold ink and sand. This can be removed to reveal a secret compartment. To the right is a box with a plush surface, perhaps once a pin cushion. It can be removed to reveal another box, which itself has a hidden compartment. The doors can be opened to show three rows of drawers, all embroidered with animals, insects, and flowers. The top drawer shows a grotto framed by animals and flowers. The top and bottom drawers are long while the middle row is divided up into three smaller drawers. The right two drawers can be removed to reveal a secret compartment. The interiors of the left door shows a woman with her left hand up, perhaps pointing to the cabinet's drawers. In the background is a castle or large house and in the foreground is a large flower and a raised work bird. The right door interior shows a woman with her right hand extended, also perhaps pointing to the cabinet's contents. She stands in front of a house and is framed by stylized flowers. Above her is a sun and colorful clouds made out of French knots. It has a gold fabric ground and its different stitches and style of raised work illustrates another needleworker's hand. The interior of the drawers are all lined with salmon-colored silk.

Some of the animals, including the lion, unidentified mythological creature, bird, and stag feature glass beads that may have been made specifically for needlework, made for stitchers to use as eyes.

Stitches: detached buttonhole, needle lace, over twisting, satin, tent
Label TextThis embroidered cabinet is an example of the embroidery that was popular in England in the second half of the seventeenth century. The cabinet was likely the final project in the needlework education of a schoolgirl, who was probably 11 or 12 years old when she embroidered this box. The lid and the front doors open to reveal a series of embroidered drawers and coral-colored silk chambers (including several secret compartments), in which the casket's owner would have stored her most prized possessions such as gems, letters, jewelry, and writing implements. The cabinet includes personifications of the Five Senses, a theme popular in seventeenth-century English needlework. The two figures holding a snake and birds represent Touch, the figures sniffing flowers represent Smell, the figure playing a lute represents Hearing, the figure eating fruit represents Taste, and the figure looking at herself in the mirror represents Sight.
InscribedNone
MarkingsNone
ProvenanceExColl: Miodrag and Elizabeth Ridgely Blagojevich