Images(9)

Embroidered Cabinet

Date1650-1675

OriginEngland

MediumSilk raised work and metallic threads on silk, hand-colored print, glass, pewter, marbled paper, silk and paper lining, seed pearls (fiber identification by textile lab)

DimensionsOH: 8"(20.0cm) x OL: 6 1/4"(16.0) x OW: 9"(23.0cm)

Credit LineGift of Anonymous Donors

Object number1971-1650

DescriptionThis is a cabinet with a domed lid covered with white silk embroidered with silk threads. On the cabinet's lid are a man and woman amid deer. It is likely this scene depicts a story from the Old Testament, but the condition of the cabinet prevents the scene from being discerned. What survives of the tableau indicates that the woman is seated and the man, perhaps a shepherd because of his staff, costume, and possible sheep (the shape remains, but many of the stitches are gone), is standing. The sides of the domed lid are covered in flowers and animals.

The front (viewer's) left door shows a woman standing, holding what might be a book, probably the Bible. She likely stands atop an animal, whose head peaks out to the right of the bottom of her dress. The front right door shows a seated woman with a crown of laurels holding a cornucopia in one hand and wheat in another. She represents Demeter (also known as Ceres). On the right side of the cabinet is a woman seated in a chair playing a lute and a much smaller figure of Mercury, with his caduceus and winged shoes. The woman represents either the personification of Hearing or of Plenty. It is likely that these two figures are unrelated to each other, separated by a tree that spans the height of the right side. The grass that the woman sits on is different than the grass Mercury stands on. The back of the cabinet shows a castle flanked by a unicorn and what looks like a wolf. The left side of the cabinet shows an exotic bird, perhaps a parrot, with a rich fruit tree.

Lifting the top lid reveals a large space whose bottom is lined with a hand-colored print. Three out of four of the walls are covered in mirrors. Lifting the bottom of the sloped portion reveals a large cavern lined in salmon-colored silk. The lid's interior features a mirror. To the left of the cavern are two square silver boxes used to hold ink and sand, flanking an empty compartment. To the right of the cavern are three spaces, two of which are filled square glass containers with pewter caps. The third space is empty and contains a secret compartment, explained below.

When the lid is lifted, the mirrored compartment can be removed to reveal another secret space, lined with marbled paper. The compartment holding the two metal containers can be lifted to reveal a secret compartment lined with purple and marbled paper. On the other side the empty compartment, the one furthest away from the cabinet's opening, can be lifted to reveal a secret compartment which itself has a secret compartment. This compartment can be opened. All of these secret compartments are lined with purple paper and peppered with bits of marbled paper. Another secret container can be found in the drawer system. When one removes the middle and right small drawers that are framed by the two longer drawers, the central panel separating the two small drawers can be pulled out to reveal a long secret container, lined in purple and marbled paper.

On the inside of the doors is very faded, stamped pink silk. Opening the doors reveals three small drawers above one long drawer. They are faced with velvet which was once salmon-pink and is now a very faded off-white. The small drawer on the right-hand side contains a key and a portion of metallic tape. The edges of the cabinet are covered in silver tape. The cabinet probably originally had four feet, all of which are now gone.

Stitches: couching, detached buttonhole, French knots, over-twisting, satin, straight, tent
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 or open to reveal cabinets, drawers, and secret compartments in which the casket's owner would have stored her most prized possessions such as gems, letters, jewelry, and writing and sewing implements. The cabinet is embroidered with a mixture of classical, allegorical, and Biblical figures such as Demeter, Hermes, and the personification of harmony or the sense of sound, illustrating the variety of print sources available to seventeenth-century schoolgirls.
InscribedNone
MarkingsNone
ProvenanceEx. collection: Tomlinson