{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O118924"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O118924/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BF5135/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BF5135/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BF5135","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HP0029","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O118924/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O118924","accessionNumber":"8453:1 to 3-1863","objectType":"Cabinet","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Cabinet of carved walnut wood, in three stages. The body or middle stage is supported on two grotesque winged sphinxes, the centre panel carved with the subject of David and Goliath, flanked by figures in niches of Justice and Fortitude; in the pediment is the subject of Judith and Holofrenes. The whole is decorated with columns, masks, terminal figures, foliage, etc and the plain surfaces inlaid with marquetry of ivory, mother of pearl marbles and coloured woods.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"makers","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"ivory","id":"AAT11857"},{"text":"mother of pearl","id":"AAT11835"},{"text":"walnut","id":"AAT12476"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"walnut, ivory, mother of pearl","categories":[{"text":"Renaissance (French)","id":"THES267855"},{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2006BF5135","2015HP0029"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES343950"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES343950"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES343950"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES343147"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES343950"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Cabinet","id":""}],[{"text":"Drawer","id":""}],[{"text":"Drawer","id":""}],[{"text":"Base","id":""}],[{"text":"cresting","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"France","id":"x28849"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Possibly Toulouse, based on a drawing made in Toulouse c1600 of a very similar cabinet (omitting 19th century areas of restoration); Recueil 41, École nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1570-1590","earliest":"1570-01-01","latest":"1590-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"1820-1840","earliest":"1820-01-01","latest":"1840-12-31"},"association":{"text":"restored","id":"AAT53742"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"237.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"122","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"51","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"From catalogue:  H. 7 ft. 8.5  in., L. 4. ft., W. 1 ft. 8 in.","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Purchased for £300 from the Soulages collection","historicalContext":"Comparable pieces\r\n\r\nDesign sources\r\nFor the sphinx figures, see Thirion's discussion p. 196-7, noting the Grandes Grotesques by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau and prints by  Aldegrever (1549) and Theodorede Bry. See also the armoire a deux corps attributed to Antoine Morizot, musee Paul Dupuy, Toulouse (inv. 13 481 D), and on the facade of the chateau de Verneuil, depicted by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau in the Plus excellents Bastimens de France vol. I (Paris, 1576), see Peter Fuhring, 'Furniture design in sixteenth-century France: Master Rb's designs for cabinets' in The Burlington Magazine, October 2016, CLVIII,. pp.784-792, n.31","briefDescription":"Cabinet, French, 1580, restored ca. 1820-1840","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"London, South Kensington Museum: Ancient and Modern Furniture & Woodwork in the South Kensington Museum, described with an introduction by John Hungerford Pollen  (London, 1874),p 272-3.\r\n\r\nSIDEBOARD. Carved walnut wood, in three Stages; decorated with columns, masks, terminal figures, foliage, &c., and the plain surfaces inlaid with marquetry of mother-of- pearl, marbles, and coloured woods. French. About 1550-60. Ascribed to Bachelier of Toulouse. H. 7 ft. 8.5 in., L. 4. ft., W. 1 ft. 8 in. Bought (Soulages Coll.), 300l. This is a spirited and well-executed specimen of a cinque-cento sideboard. The centre is a cupboard with an architectural front, with a single central panel flanked by two Corinthian columns and a niche between, on each side. Each side niche contains a figure in high relief. The central niche contains a baf-relief representing David carrying the sword and head of Goliath. The side niches contain, on one side a female figure holding the sword and the balance, and representing Justice; the corresponding figure holds a column and represents For- titude. The lower portion begins with a drawer front and sides. This horizontal part is supported by grotesque figures of winged satyrs, squatting and spreading sideways. The plinth or base is square, and is connected by a panelled back with the upper portion. The drawer front and return sides are indented by bold flutings that curve outwards,   and are partly filled by marble inlays. The upper portion, besides having the top of the cupboard to form a dresser, has projecting from its architectonic back a low shelf or step with panelled front. The back, which is arranged to converge to a pediment, is full of salient points, so as to give a broken outline on the top and fides, this part being the most striking in a piece of furniture designed for dining room use. The main portion above the low shelf or step is a square panel containing carving. It represents Judith carrying her burden, ascending a flight of steps. Projecting forward over this is a bold square corona and cornice upheld by two satyrs in full relief. The broken pediment above is crowned by a central bust standing on a scroll, and is formed by two grotesque peacocks which support it on each side, suggesting the interrupted pedimental arrangement without having recourse to mere imitation or model work of actual architecture. On either side of the main square panel are two half panels stretching out on each flank. They are of architectonic character with pilasters, and are covered by grotesque masks and garlands that hang from these sides to the central part. The masks and garlands form salient knots or masses. The half-panels again are flanked by carved monsters, whose tails curve upwards and give a floral richness to these flank terminations. Half pediments, with the broad part facing outwards, surmount these monsters, and a dragon fitting over each of the half pediments, balances the central peacock composition. The Corinthian columns, cornice flats, and the flat portions of the back panelling of the bottom part are decorated with inlay of pearl and varied woods.  This piece formed part of the Soulages Collection. "},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Fake? : the art of deception / edited by Mark Jones with Paul Craddock and Nicolas Barker. London : Published for the Trustees of the British Museum by British Museum Publications, 1990. p 207, ref no.218\r\n\r\nFrench ‘Renaissance’ cabinet. The splendid collection of French and Italian Renaissance decorative art assembled by the Toulouse lawyer Jules Soulages was brought to England in 1855. It had been purchased for £11,782 by a syndicate of seventy-three aristocrats, architects and craftsmen organised by Henry Cole, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum. When it was exhibited for seven weeks in London in the following year 48,093 people came to see it. After much lobbying, Cole persuaded the Government to buy the collection for his museum in instalments between 1859 and 1865. It included ceramics, metalwork, bronzes, enamels, textiles, glass and furniture, and was the most important such collection then in Europe. Many of the objects are still on display but, as is so often the case with ancient furniture, some pieces are either heavily restored or made up from old carvings. Several were, therefore, de-accessioned in the 1950s, one at least of which may have been genuine. So little recent research has been done on furniture of this type that great care needs to be taken before it is declared to be ‘fake’ and this cabinet is one such piece. The balance of probability, however, is that it was made up in the 1830s from a combination of old (including the carvings) and new material. CW. \nWalnut inlaid with mother-of-pearl, marble and other woods. H 2375mm; L 1222mm; w 508mm V&A 8453-1863 \nLITERATURE J. C. Robinson, Catalogue of the Soulages Collection, London 1856,  "},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Hugues Sambin - Un créateur au XVI<sup>e</sup> siècle (vers 1520-1601), Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2002, p.101 and n.72 (p.121)"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Alain Prévet, Autour de Hugues Sambin. Un extraordinaire cabinet Renaissance enfin réhabilité. http://web.archive.org/web/20221208150816/https://www.latribunedelart.com/autour-de-hugues-sambin-un-extraordinaire-cabinet-renaissance-enfin-rehabilite\r\n\r\nDiscusses the anonymous 16th century(?) drawing for a cabinet of very similar design on Recueil 41, École nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Presumed to be the piece cited in \r\nCorporation Galleries Glasgow French Art Loan Exhibition, 1883-84\r\nSouth Kensington Museum loans, p. 66\r\n'Sideboard - Wood, carved with group of figures, &c. About 1560'\r\n"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Gallery 8:\nThis cabinet once formed part of the famous collection of Jules Soulages.  Italian and French pieces of the sixteenth century were highly prized by collectors and museums in the nineteenth century, and were copied by modern makers. A carved walnut cabinet in the sixteenth-century style (shown almost opposite [2692-1856]), by the Parisian firm of Fourdinois, won a Grand Medal of Honour at the Paris Exhibition in 1855. However, recent research has shown that many of the pieces collected at that time as antiques had been either very heavily restores or entirely made up from early carved panels.  The extent of restoration on this cabinet is still the subject of investigation and debate.\n\nMaker Unknown\nProbably Paris; 1830-40\nincorporating much sixteenth century carving\nWalnut, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, marble and other woods","date":{"text":"1997","earliest":"1997-01-01","latest":"1997-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["8453:1-1863","8453:1/1-1863","8453:1/2-1863","8453:2-1863","8453:3-1863"],"accessionNumberNum":"8453","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1863,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Drawer [1]","Drawer [2]","cresting","Base","Cabinet"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-12","recordCreationDate":"2005-11-23","availableToBook":true}}