About This Artwork

German, Augsburg
Made by Philip Hainhofer (German, 1578-1647)
Carver: Adam Eck, died 1664

Augsburg Cabinet, c. 1630

Wood, ebony; carved and inlaid ivory, stained and carved wood relief, gilded bronze, iron implements
160 x 110.5 cm (63 x 43 1/2 in.); Diameter: 64.8 cm (25 1/2 in.)
Anonymous Purchase Fund, 1970.404

The term cabinetmaker, meaning an artisan who makes fine furniture of all types, first came into currency in the seventeenth century, when intricate cabinets were the focus of woodworking activity. The design of these complex and elaborate chests of drawers required great skill, as they were often executed in a wide variety of decorative methods. An example in the collections includes carved ivory inlaid into ebony, applied bronze mounts, and Eger work, a technique invented in the Hungarian town of Eger, in which images are created from different woods that are stained and fitted together like jigsaw puzzles. The encyclopedic nature of these cabinets led to the inclusion of numerous other built-in features. The London-made timepiece that surmounts the cabinet dates from around 1715 and probably replaced an earlier clock. When drawers behind the clock are pulled out, a set of five canisters for drugs and ointments is revealed. At least twenty-two other utensils—pharmaceutical implements, as well as hammers, scissors, and even an astronomical calculator. Thematically, too, the decoration ranges widely, from pure patterns to hunting scenes, and from specific mythological tales to the allegorical figure of the Christian virtue Charity, who stands on the cabinet's highest point.

The all-purpose nature of such cabinets stems from their varied functions. Increasingly lavish exterior decoration complemented such interior contents as jewelry, gems, or rare minerals. These cabinets became microcosms of art and nature, covered by and containing precious materials from all over the world—in this case, ivory—that were transformed through exquisite craftsmanship into examples of high artistry.

Repeated and varied throughout this work are sinuous ivory patterns, crisply contrasting the black sheen of ebony veneer, a feature that is typical of cabinets made in Augsburg, in southern Germany. Ordered rectangles confining these patterns define the facade of this architectural form and play against the swirling volutes at its crest and feet. The cabinet's appearance when closed is relatively modest. Opened, the doors reveal more lavish decor: carved figures on pedestals, called herms; bronze drawer pulls shaped like lion heads; and ivory pictures depicting scenes of falconry. In turn, the central panel opens to reveal yet another set of images. Here, activities of various professions are represented in Eger work. Hidden behind these are another rank of drawers. Such secret compartments were often included to guard special papers or treasures, since the cabinets served not only for display, but also as personal safe-deposit boxes.

Many of the most prized cabinets of the period featured coordinated surface ornamentation. In this cabinet, the closed doors confronting the public are covered with arabesques, graceful abstractions of tendrils, while the private interior centers on the theme of hunting, particularly falconry. On close examination, even the arabesques on the interior have images of hunting dogs chasing birds and rabbits tucked among the trailing foliage. Small ivory panels, locked behind the side door to the left of the clock and fixed across the interior of the main doors, feature hunters holding sporting guns or falcons; surrounding the hunters are various images of prey: boar, deer, foxes, bears, rabbits, and birds. The large, arched scenes inside the doors depict some of the dramatic aspects of bird hunting: falcons striking birds in mid-air, beaters and dogs flushing quail. The sport of hunting with falcons was at the height of fashion in the mid-seventeenth century, when this cabinet was made.

Falconry may well have been a pastime of the cabinet's owner. But the theme of flight is extended beyond merely personal associations, into the mythological realm, and so is given a moral dimension. The central panel shows Icarus falling to his death in an attempt to fly to the sun, a story often seen as an allegory of the dangers of excessive ambition. Finally, the Eger panels in the innermost recess show another, more basic aspect of the falconer's role, this time in the context of the other professions—cook, farmer, fisherman—whose everyday activities bring food to the table. From the aerial to the mundance, from aristocratic pursuits to ordinary occupations, this final seriers apparently brings the cycle of activity back to earth—or more simply, celebrates eating, the hunter's reward.

Brilliantly ornamented for display yet containing closely mechanically practical, this cabinet is fittingly decorated, expressing its importance as well as its many applications.