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This instrument may well have formed part of a cabinet of curiosities, where collections of outstanding natural and man-made objects were housed. The case of the instrument is inlaid with scenes made up of ancient ruins. These had been made popular by the engravings of Hyeronymus Cock of Antwerp (about 1510-1570) and were widely used by cabinet makers from Augsburg from about 1560 until 1600.","physicalDescription":"Cabinet and chamber organ combined, the outside (including top and back) and inside decorated with architectural and geometrical designs in marquetry of various coloured woods, and some painted imitations of marquetry on the lower section. The upper part containing three sections with 39 drawers and a keyboard is enclosed by a pair of hinged, folding doors, with sprung espagnolette latch bolts. The lower part presents two horizontal tiers divided by an ebonised moulding; the central section of the upper tier front hinges down. The whole rests on four, spirally grooved ebonised legs. At the front, right a metal pedal extends below the lower part.\n\n<u>Drawers</u>\nInside the cabinet case, visible parts are covered with ‘verdure’ marquetry in a design of dense stems, leaves, fruit and flowers which covers the floor, walls and ceiling. To the left and right, the stepped drawers rest on dustboards which have a dark wood lip or cock bead, possibly walnut. The marquetry design fits around the various drawers (some of them stepped) in a neat fashion, making use of a banded dark border, indicating that it was designed in this unusual arrangement. \n\nThe cabinet now contains 39 removable drawers (one very small drawer from the central section top row having been lost since the cabinet organ was photographed by the museum in 1909): 7 on left (1 blind in bottom row), 24 in the central block (originally 25), and 8 drawers on right. All knobs are positioned centrally. The drawers in the left and right compartment sections sit in front of a void 5cm deep.\n\nDrawers: 5 – 43; All drawers marked in pencil with Arabic number, and sometimes <i>Links</i> (left) or <i>rechts</i> (right). The drawers are dovetailed and fall into two groups, those of considerable age are made of stained sycamore(?), with the bottom glued up (sides not rebated) and three (with painted fronts) which are sharper and more substantially made using stained softwood). The use of German suggests that the cabinet was conserved by a German craftsman, clearly at some point before 1879, but the use of card from an English magazine suggests this happened in England. The marquetry fronts have mitred, ebonised mouldings. The central bank of drawers all sit c10mm forward of the dustboards, perhaps the result of irregular shrinkage. The older drawers appear to have been reconstructed by glueing the marquetry drawer fronts (considerably reduced in thickness through scraping and with a small amount of original substrate) onto traditional linings. Some small losses of inlay have been replaced with pigmented wax.\n\r\nThe central bank of drawers (excl. the top row) were at some time (almost certainly not originally) fitted with metal rim locks (with a return at top and bottom) which have been removed, made good and the keyholes plugged with dark or pale wood, with some painted detailing. Where the doors have shrunk across the grain, a fillet of pale wood has been glued to the PR door edge. The case back board is of softwood. The dustboards (softwood) are full depth with veneered facings (with triple stringing, possibly in boxwood, walnut and sycamore). The bottom dustboard under the central section, row seven, has been cut back (and chamfered at the sides, presumably to accommodate the keyboard), and the central divider cut through. The vertical dividers and side panels to the central compartment are made of a fine, evenly grained wood, possibly sycamore. Rough fillets of sycamore have been glued at the sides perhaps to conceal gaps. In the central section, the bottom row of drawers are modern replacements, below which is an aperture (now accommodating the keyboard) but which originally is likely to have contained two drawers. It appears that the vertical divider between them (and extending upwards between the two large drawers of row 6) is a replacement, suggesting that there may have been an open compartment at the bottom of the central section (max. size HWD: 140 x 565 x 470mm), which could have accommodated a virginal type instrument with protruding keyboard (which obscured the inner faces of the vertical dividers at either side of the central compartment, at the very bottom where no marquetry is present).\n\n On each of the projecting sides enclosing the central section, ‘verdure’ marquetry facing stops just above this bottom level (without drawers) where a plain sycamore(?) veneer would have been (and still is) visible, albeit with damage to the varnish, possibly where a glued ornament has been removed. (A length of thin wood moulding, possibly rosewood, has been glued along this transitional line, as a neat edging to the keyboard when in position.\n\n\n<u>Marquetry and Surface</u>\r\nThe marquetry (thicknesses: 2.2 to 2.9mm) is laid on a substrate of softwood and beech (apparently a framed construction for the main boards); the marquetry uses a ground of maple(?). Refinements include sand shading, use of end grain inlays, burr wood, minute fillets of wood, painted ‘textural’ detailing and green inlays which were achieved either by using green stained wood (probably poplar infected with the fungus <i>chlorociboria</i>), or metal-based dyes such as copper or iron, which were in use by the fifteenth century (Blanchette, R.A, Wilmering, A.M., Baumeister, M. ‘The Use of Green-Stained Wood Caused by the Fungus Chlorociboria in Intarsia Masterpieces from the 15th Century’ in Holzforschung 46 (1992) 225-232.\n\r\nThe external marquetry (and most of the drawer fronts) show extensive signs of scraping (exposing worm channels on the cabinet top in the process) before it entered the museum; some green areas may have been retouched at the same time.\n\r\nSurface finish: examination under UV light indicates an extensive patchwork of small damages, repairs and oil varnishes. The base section: most of the decoration was painted to imitate marquetry. The pigment use for the green fluoresces (and therefore could be Green earth (<i>Terre Verte</i>) or Prussian green but has not yet been identified; various typically 19th century pigments that do not fluoresce, such as Chrom green, Chromoxid green, Viridian (fluorescing usually red or red-violet), Heliogen green (=Phthalocyanine green), Emerald green, Verdigris can be excluded. An oil varnish (not shellac as might be expected in the 19th century) is contemporary with the painting and shows no indication of later interference.\r\n","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Pine","id":"AAT12620"},{"text":"Bog oak","id":"x30120"},{"text":"Holly","id":"AAT12156"},{"text":"Boxwood","id":"AAT12002"}],"techniques":[{"text":"joining","id":"AAT137062"},{"text":"marquetry","id":"AAT53853"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Cabinet: Softwood and beech, with ebonised fruitwood(?) and with marquetry of maple(?) and various other woods; mahogany additions\nOrgan: softwood, maple (pipes), lead alloy (pipes), iron pedal, vellum","categories":[{"text":"Musical instruments","id":"THES48919"},{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"},{"text":"Containers","id":"THES48972"},{"text":"Medieval and 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with 3 square and one wide compartment","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Augsburg","id":"x32552"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1600","earliest":"1595-01-01","latest":"1604-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"E.786-2008","id":"O199062"},"association":"Depiction"},{"object":{"text":"E.787-2008","id":"O199082"},"association":"Depiction"}],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"129.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Measured NH 30/11/2023\r\nCabinet (upper part) HWD: 55 x 107.5 x 53.5cm\r\nMid-section (with organ workings): HWD: 21 x 112.5 x 58.5cm\r\nLower section (with bellows): 74.5 [incl. legs, 25cm] x 112.5 x 58.5cm"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"112.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"58.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"122","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Weighed by TS Jan 2024"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Accession register vol 78 p251 (Central Inventory MA/30/112). Bought from J.C.Robinson (after his employment as ‘superintendent of the art collection’ was terminated) as part of a block purchase (mus. nos. 132 to 220-1879 for £6,800); attributed as 'Spanish, about 1560'. The attribution as Spanish may suggest that it was purchased by Robinson in Spain, although there was also a perception at the time of acquisition that such marquetry furniture was Spanish in origin, based on work executed in Spain by 16th-century German makers.\n\nIt is not known how Robinson obtained the organ which may have been restored in the 19th century in England. It may possibly be the same 17th century German organ with marquetry, which was lent in 1872 to the Special Exhibition of Ancient Musical Instruments at the South Kensington Museum by its owner Charles Augustus Howell. Howell - who for a while was Ruskin's secretary - was a well-connected and successful dealer but in various respects had an unsavoury reputation. (Science and Art Department: Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ancient Musical Instruments with illustrations (London, 1872), no. 420 (p.31) lists 'ORGAN. GERMAN, 17th century. Inlaid with designs in various coloured woods. Lent by Mr Charles Augustus Howell')\n\r\n<u>Display History (from museum Findings Lists):</u>\nJuly 1927: Rm 45, case W 236\n1963: M. Rm\n1968-2010: gallery 40A (Musical Instruments Gallery)\n2010-2025: Blythe House and SK stores.\nConserved: 2023\n\nPhotographed in 1909 and 1965. The organ parts were photographed in 1980. In 1981 a measured drawing and report of the instrument was produced by Martin Goetze and Dominic Gwynn, V&amp;A: E.786-2008 and E.787-2008.\n\n<u>A proposed chronology of <u>Structural Changes\n</u></u>With thanks to Dominic Gwynn, Miles Hellon, Ben Marks, Christopher Nobbs, Gabriele Rossi Rognoni, Mimi Waitzman\n\nThe organ is an ambitious, elaborate, professionally made instrument that was made to measure (albeit with some adjustment to fit and eccentrically configured). It has a large number of stops, for which the original bellows would have been barely adequate (and would have required hard pumping). The organ appears to be largely of a single date, perhaps 18th century and is too elaborate to have been created for the 19th century antiques trade. The regal metal rank is typical of continuo instruments in the 17th century. The keyboard - which shows relatively little wear - appears to be 17th century, using bone. The twin side flaps access ‘dampers’ levers that would change the stops, to engage a rank. The rear flap and sliding front flap permit access for tuning. \n\r\n<b>Phase 1</b> <b>c1570-90, southern Germany, probably Augsburg. </b>A regular marquetry cabinet albeit with unusual internal configuration. There is no corroborating internal evidence that a removable ottavino type instrument was originally located below the drawers.\n\r\n<b>Phase 2 c1650, southern Germany(?).</b> Converted to contain the organ parts now in the mid-section (underneath the cabinet) which was encased in reused marquetry c1580-1600 of the same character), and involving: the addition of a pair of top mounted bellows, the removal of the bottom row of two large drawers, the right hand section drawers being shortened to accommodate wind trunking (and in fact all the drawer fronts reconstructed onto new drawer linings). A stand or legs (now missing) would have been created at this time. Possibly at this time locks were added to the central section drawers.\n\r\nIn the board above the two small LH drawers in the top row of the central section of the cabinet are rectangular openings at front and back compatible with the presence of the flap valves for two weighted bellows on top of the case. Behind these shortened drawers are blocks to prevent them going too far into the void behind. Previously their movement may have been limited by some kind of partitioning of this upper ‘floor’ into a receiver for the wind from the bellows. The wind then passed to a vertical trunk on the back interior wall of the cabinet at the RH side. This descended to the level of the board above the lowest RH drawer of the cabinet, where, behind the drawer, the trunk turned horizontally towards the front of the cabinet as noted in the drawings, and on its underside is an opening directly above the plugged opening in the RH end of the organ’s pallet-box. To make room for the vertical wind trunk the RH drawers in front of it were shortened and the equivalent LH drawers were also shortened to match. \n\r\nThe top panel of marquetry forming the cabinet’s roof, and the ebonised mouldings at each end, appear to have been separated at some time into two pieces lengthways, possibly to form the tops of the two weighted bellows. (There are small plugs at what would have been the end centres of each of these boards, which may indicate some aspect of manipulation or fixing at this stage. But it requires more research into similar bellows to conceive how these decorative boards could have been incorporated into functioning top boards of bellows with weights and valves.) To accommodate the combined depth of the bellow’s boards and ribs there was probably a bolder and deeper ebonised architrave moulding at the top the cabinet at this stage. Although attaching the connection of a trunk linking the wind from the cabinet to the pallet-box of the organ would have been awkward to assemble that would not have been a particularly exceptional extra difficulty given the compact complexity of this instrument. The ‘registering’ of cabinet to organ would have been aided by the four inserted tenons for precise location.\n\r\nThe height of the instrument, which was still probably on a framed stand of turned legs or columns, would have been governed by what was a convenient height for the person raising the bellows. \n\r\nDominic Gwynn and Martin Goetze remark in their 1981 report (History) 'Possible indications as to the approximate age of the organ are the keyboard compass and the type of the regal pipe, though the width of the centre section of the upper cabinet would not admit more naturals, and the regal types have not been sufficiently researched.' \r\n\r\n<b>Phase 3 perhaps 1750-1850, probably Germany or northern Italy.</b>\r\nThe top bellows removed and cabinet made good, and instrument converted to the present sub-mounted bellows unit within a matching, painted-marquetry casing, presumably with the current legs. (There is nothing suggestive of English or Spanish work.) Reasons for the change to the present form of wind supply could include the wish to play the organ without assistance and/or a shortness of wind and decrepitude in the earlier system. It was probably at this time that three (damaged) drawers were replaced (featuring painted fronts), the drawer locks removed and the drawer fronts made good. At an unknown point, perhaps shortly before it was acquired by the museum in 1879, some minor repairs were carried out - perhaps in London in that card from a Victorian, English language magazine was used to stabilise a blind drawer front.\n\nThere are good quality hand-made nails used in this section as well as 19th century reinforcing corner braces held by slotted screws, suggesting this section could indeed be pre-1750. The first fitting of sub-mounted bellows might have occurred earlier that c1750-1850. Modifying and tinkering with this area probably went on up to the point of acquisition by the V&amp;A.\n\n<u>Summary of <u>C</u></u><u>onservation and Analysis (2023-5) </u>\r\nThe cabinet was cleaned; small veneer repairs and numerous reglueing of lifting veneers; door hinges reseated.  New keys were made for the for tail flap and a new escutcheon for the central lock.\r\n\nIn 2025, under the direction of Isabella Miles-Bunch, Fungarium Curator-Mycologist, Science Collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, two microsamples of green veneer from the front of a drawer (216:10-1879) were analysed at RBG by Goutham Padmakumar Sarala. Xylindein, a natural a blue-green quinone pigment produced by wood-decaying fungi from the Chlorociboria genus was detected.\n\n<u>Comparable Instruments</u>\nClaviorganum (1598 Nürnberg, Germany) by Lorenz Hauslaib, Organ mechanism made by Steffan Cuntz German. Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889. Object Number: 89.4.1191\nhttps://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/501762 (accessed 21/11/2025)\n\nOther south German keyboard instruments combined with marquetry cabinet cases:\n\r\n-Cabinet with virginal, Tirol c1580-90 (lBayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, inv. R 1069); see also Bettina Wackernagel, <i>Musikinstrumente des 16. Bis 18. Jahrhunderts im Bayerischen Nationalmuseum</i> 1999, pp.23-26\n\r\n-Cabinet with room organ (Hausorgel), Tirol 1590-1600 (Landesmuseum Württemberg, inv. G 29,143; prev. Saltzer coll., Vienna, sold by Wawra 1927); published in Völkl, Helmut Rudolf; Rehfeldt, Wolfram; Rehm, Gerhard (1986): Orgeln in Württemberg Neuhausen-Stuttgart, S. 34\n","historicalContext":"<u>The Augsburg Marquetry Cabinet in Sixteenth-century Europe\n</u>\nCabinets were the most prestigious pieces of storage furniture during the 16th century. In Germany this type of cabinet was known as a <i>schreibtisch</i> (writing desk). The cabinet form evolved from the portable and utilitarian <i>scritorio</i> (writing desk) in late-15th century Spain. When this piece was created (before it was converted to house an organ), the cabinet had become a showpiece in its own right, and was probably known as an art cabinet (<i>Kunstschrank</i>), as shown by its imposing size, side-opening double doors to accommodate its extra width (and double doors), the lack of carrying handles and decoration on the back which indicate that it was intended for an essentially static position in a room. The change from a fall front to side-hinged doors presumably also reflects a greater concern with display as the cabinet effectively doubles in size when open, displaying the inner faces of its prominently decorated doors as well as the drawer and cupboard fronts inside. The many drawers and compartments are likely to have held curiosities, documents, ‘collectables’ or other valuables. \n\r\nSuch cabinets were a speciality of the south German, Free, Imperial city of Augsburg (although similar work was almost certainly produced in neighbouring cities). By 1575 a <i>schreibtisch</i> was one of the compulsory 'masterpieces' (a proof of skill) of the furniture makers’ guild as well as the traditional wardrobe. No other city in Europe followed this example. As a city with important banking expertise and excellent trade links to Italy, (particularly through the Fugger and Welser merchant families), relative religious freedom and strong artistic and craft traditions, Augsburg was a leading international centre for architecture, sculpture, painting and the decorative arts notably goldsmiths and furniture makers (<i>Kistler</i>). It specialized in intricate mechanical devices such as locks, crossbows and clocks, and the fine blades needed to cut clock gears, could also be used in cutting marquetry. Augsburg was also situated close to extensive forests so that a wide range of indigenous woods could be obtained and processed. From the 1540s its furniture makers became especially renowned for coloured marquetry, which sharp images were, they claimed, ‘impossible for any painter’ (Himmelheber 2010 p.13), and by 1558 there were 137 master cabinet makers in the city, producing a wide range of products including marquetry cabinets, which were widely exported, notably to Spain. \n\r\nAugsburg cabinets were elaborately decorated, usually on all visible surfaces in marquetry of varied brown, and bright green, colours. Some make use of spanholz (‘chipboard’) made from dyed wood shavings glued into a block from which veneers were cut to create a marbled effect. The most prominent aspect of its design is the marquetry decoration (originally much brighter in colour) characterised by perspectival landscapes with architectural ruins and sprouting weeds, disproportionate 3D scrolling forms, strapwork and, often but not always, the forms of birds and figures. The ruins, influenced by contemporary prints showing classical ruins in Rome, were probably read as humanist symbols of the vanity of human endeavour, and reflect fascinated interest in the rediscovery of the classical world. Such cabinets must have seemed miracles of craftsmanship and ingenuity when they were made, at a time when in most countries only plain furniture made of one type of wood was known. The possession of a marquetry cabinet marked the owner as a well to do and sophisticated patron of the arts, particularly as such cabinets were for the owner’s personal use. \n\r\nScrollwork designs appeared in engravings from the 1540s. A particular design landmark in terms of Augsburg marquetry is the 1567 publication by Lorenz Stöer of <i>Geometria et Perspektiva</i> with eleven woodcuts dominated by powerful, freestanding scrollwork structures (the first time that scrollwork was treated as an independent form) and perspective views of ruins and strapwork, intended especially ‘<i>den Schreiner in eingelegter Arbeit dienstlich</i>’ (useful for the furniture-maker for inlaid work). It has been argued that the pictorial effect of such dense, even obsessive, scenes dominated by disproportionate and enigmatic three-dimensional scrolling forms, is a Mannerist conceit, demonstrating inventive artistry and technical excellence to stimulate and amaze viewers (Himmelheber, 2010). \r\nThe largest and most important Augsburg workshop from 1548-68 was that of Lienhart Stromair (dead by 1568), to whom various high quality pieces have been attributed, but as work is rarely signed and specialist marquetry makers, (perhaps specialising in such elements as scrolls, figures, birds, borders), are likely to have worked for more than one workshop over time, the attribution of surviving pieces is extremely difficult.\r\n\r\nGerman marquetry cabinets were widely exported. Inventory references to the royal palaces in Madrid give the impression that cabinets were found in many rooms, and in 1603 an edict of Philip III prohibited the import of Nuremberg cabinets to Spain. At around the same time a petition on behalf of Spanish furniture makers claimed that cabinets and escritoires of the type imported from Germany were being made in Spain for about half the price of the imported product (<i>The industrial arts in Spain</i> by Juan F. Riaño, 1890). In 1610 the merchant Philipp Hainhofer reported that Augsburg cabinets were being exported in large numbers to Prague (the seat of the Imperial court), France, Italy and Spain. In the same year, Pyrard de Laval noted that cabinets 'a la mode de ceux d'Allemagne' [in the manner of those from Germany] were being exported to Europe from the East Indies and from Japan, indicating the extent to which German cabinets were sought after. (Quoted by Monique Riccardi-Cubitt, The Art of the Cabinet (London, 1992), p48.)\r\n\r\n<u>Further reading </u>\r\nD. Alfter, <i>Die Geschichte des Augsburger Kabinettschranks</i>, Augsburg 1986.\r\nReinier Baarsen,  <i>Seventeenth-Century Cabinets</i>, (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 2000) \r\nHimmelheber, Georg, and Johann Kräftner, <i>Der Mailänder Kabinettschrank : ein Augsburger Prunkmöbel des Manierismus</i> (Vienna, Liechtenstein Museum, 2010)\r\nSilas Kopf, <i>A Marquetry Odyssey. Historical Objects and Personal Work</i> (Manchester, Vt, 2008)\r\nL. Möller, De<i>r Wrangelschrank und die verwandten süddeutschen Intarsienmöbel des 16. Jahrhunderts</i>, (Berlin 1956)\r\n\r\n\r\n\n<u>Marquetry Techniques</u>\nTo create marquetry decoration of this type, the design would first have been set out, life-size, on paper. Paper templates for the individual motifs were pasted to small sections of wood veneers – usually native woods, typically sycamore, boxwood, holly, walnut, plumwood and pearwood. A rich, lasting green colour could be achieved using poplar tinted by the action of a fungus <i>chlorosplenium</i>. The motifs were cut with a fretsaw, the finest blades allowing the marqueteur to cut small shapes with tight curves. Skilled cutting produced an astonishingly tight fit between the motifs. Some pieces were shaded by singeing in hot sand. The various cut motifs were assembled on a backing paper and glued (paper side down) to the carcase wood, usually with strong animal skin glues, and held under pressure during drying. Once dry, the surface was scraped to ensure a uniform smoothness, polished and varnished. Wilmering suggests that in 16th century marquetry such as this piece the shoulder knife would only very rarely be used to inlay extra details into the glued marquetry sheets.\n\r\nOn 16th century marquetry techniques see: \r\nOlga Riaggio and Antoine M. Wilmering: <i>The Gubbio Studiolo and its Conservation.</i> Vol.I (Raggio), Federico da Montefeltro's Palace at Gubbio and Its Studioll, Vol. II (Wilmering), Italian Renaissance Intarsia and the Conservation of the Gubbio Studiolo (Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 1999).\r\n\n\n<u>Green wood stained by Xylindein</u> \n\n(Based on information provided by Isabella Miles-Bunch, Fungarium Curator- Mycologist, Science Collections; Royal  Botanic Gardens, Kew)\nGreen Elf Cup (referring to both <i>Chlorociboria aeruginascens</i> and <i>Chlorociboria aeruginosa</i>) is a saprobic fungus, meaning it decays organic matter as a source of food. <i>C. aeruginascens</i> contains the blue-green pigment xylindein in both its hyphae and fruiting bodies. The green elf cup colonises decaying wood such as fallen trees, particularly oak, beech and hazel. Its hyphae grow through the wood, producing secondary compounds to decay the wood, including xylindein which stains the wood blue-green. When the fungi need to reproduce, it will produce fruiting bodies on the surface of the wood in the form of small blue-green cups. The wood tends to become more vibrant as the fungus decays, making the brightest coloured wood harder to work. The stained wood, sometimes known as 'green oak', has been found in woodwork in Europe since the 1200s.\n\n\n<u>Musical Culture in Europe and the Positive Organ\n</u>\r\nIn 17th-century Europe, music making was common at home, from the private orchestras of monarchs to modest ensembles of the merchant classes: as diversion, social pleasure and a way to display skill and education. It was regarded as a respectable activity, promoting concord and social-political harmony, to offset the suspicion that it was a temporal vanity that encouraged lasciviousness. Sacred music also featured, especially in protestant Europe where private singing of religious arias and chorales accompanied by keyboard instruments was an important part of domestic devotion among the pious middle classes. With the invention of printed music from 1500 a wide repertoire of music of all kinds became increasingly available, and more secular chamber music particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries. Keyboard works for the harpsichord and organ became increasingly virtuosic. \r\n\r\nDuring the 17th century, the positive organ (for practical purposes an immobile instrument, in contrast to the portative organ) rose in popularity at home for use by professionals and amateurs, being used for instrumental, dance and vocal music. It was the only instrument on which more than one part could be played at a time. It was also used to play bass lines and to fill out harmonies in the new combination of instruments just coming into being, the orchestra. A variety of methods was used to introduce air to the pipes and other refinements produced more individualised sounds. The size and complexity of organs varied nationally, with instruments made in Germany, the Netherlands and France generally more elaborate (with greater range of tone colours) than Italy and Great Britain.\r\n\r\nAugsburg in the 16th century had a particularly rich musical culture, which encouraged the making of high quality instruments. The wealth of the city attracted leading musicians; organists performed in city churches and the homes of rich, patrician families; books of music were produced in the print shops of Augsburg publishers and exported widely.\n\n\r\nFurther reading\r\nArkenberg, Rebecca. “Music in the Renaissance.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.  New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ hd/renm/hd_renm.htm (October 2002)\r\n\r\nJeremy Montagu, The World of Medieval &amp; Renaissance Musical Instruments (Newton Abbot, London, 1976), and The World of Baroque and Classical Musical Instruments (Newton Abbot, London, 1979)\r\n\r\nDavid Munrow, Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (London, 1980)\r\n\r\nJo Norman, ‘Music at Home’ in Elizabeth Millar and Hilary Young (eds.), The Arts of Living, Europe 1600-1815 (London, 2016), pp166- 9\r\n\r\nPercy A. Scholes, The Oxford Companion to Music: ‘Organ’ (Oxford, 1977)\r\n\n\n","briefDescription":"Cabinet organ, pine with marquetry of various woods, and key, Augsburg, Germany, ca. 1600","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"MÖLLER, Lieselotte; <i>Der Wrangelschrank und die verwandten süddeitschen intarsienmöbel des 16. Jahrhunderts</i> (Berlin, 1956), cat. no. 70"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"SCHOTT, Howard; Baines; Anthony; Yorke, James: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the\r\nVictoria and Albert Museum. Part I: Keyboard instruments by Howard Schott. Part II: Non-keyboard instruments by Anthony Baines. [Reprint 20012 of single volume catalogue with additional information]. (London, V&amp;A Publications, 1998), p. 48.\n\nCabinet Organ, South German, early seventeenth century.\n1. The instrument is unsigned.\n2. The keyboard compass is of forty-one notes, E'-g2, a2, without a bass short octave (that is, chromatic from E), and lacking g2 sharp. The standard measurement is 474mm. The bone-covered naturals measure 94mm long, with key-heads of 31 mm, and 22mm wide. The naturals have key-fronts decorated with interlaced arcading. The sharp, of ebonized fruitwood and strongly bevelled, measure 59-62mm long by 9.5 -12.5mm wide. \n3. The conjectural specification is as follows: \nStopped wood 4-foot\nStopped wood 2-foot\nOpen wood and metal 1-foot\nOpen metal 1/2-foot in bass and 1 1/3-foot in treble Regal metal (cast from low tin alloy) 8-foot\nAll register draw in halves divided at b/c' by means of sliders with small lead handles concealed behind small hinged panels on the left and right-hand sides of the cabinet. The wind supply is provided by a single-rise reservoir and feeder operated by a foot-pedal at the right-hand side.\n4. The upper part of the cabinet, dating from the late sixteenth century, is decorated in characteristic South German style with marquetry in various woods veneered on a carcase of pine. The lower part of the cabinet is cleverly painted in imitation of the marquetry work of the upper part. \nThe lower part of the cabinet, containing the soundboards and pipework of the organ in a very compact arrangement, was made when the organ was built some time in the seventeenth century. A grooved panel immediately below the key-board gives access to the regal pipes, which stand at the front on the pipe work to facilitate returning which is required more frequently for these reeds than for flue pipes. A hinged panel at the rear gives access to the remainder of the pipework , all of which is placed horizontally. The cabinet measures 1295mm high, 1125mm wide and 585mm deep.\n5. The cabinet organ was purchased in 1879 at an unspecified price from the Robinson Collection. \r\n"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"South Kensington Museum, John Charles Robinson, J. C Robinson, and R. Clay, Sons and Taylor. 1881. <i>Catalogue of the Special Loan Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art: South Kensington Museum, 1881</i>. London: Chapman & Hall, p.122"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"James Yorke, Keyboard Instruments at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 1986), no. 23, p.46\r\n\r\n23 Cabinet organ\r\nSouth German, early seventeenth century\r\nMuseum No. 216-1879\r\nThe upper part of the cabinet dates from the late sixteenth century, being decorated in marquetry on a pine carcase. The lower part, which contains the playing mechanism, was built in the early seventeenth century and painted with imitation marquetry to match the upper part. The bellows are worked by a pedal by the front right-hand leg. The keyboard, whose design is derived from Praetorius (1619), has a compass of forty-one notes, E-g<sup>2</sup>, a<sup>2</sup>.\r\n"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Raymond Russell, Catalogue of Musical Instruments. No. I. Keyboard Instruments. Appendix A Catalogue of Pianos and Organs by Austin Niland (London, V & A, 1968), no. 45 (p.67), and fig. 40 ('Cabinet organ, South German. The cabinet, with its intricate marquetry decoration, dates from the late sixteenth century. An organ was then fitted into this cabinet ; the lower tier and legs were added at this time - during the third quarter of the seventeenth century.')\r\n\r\n'45 CABINET ORGAN, South German, cabinet case of the late sixteenth century adapted to contain an organ, probably during the third quarter of the seventeenth century. Fig. 40. \nThe upper. and older part of the cabinet is decorated with marquetry in various woods. The lower part of this contains the soundboards and the pipework of the organ, very compactly arranged. The regal pipes stand in the front of the case, imme­diately below the keyboard, where a hinged panel provides easy access for tuning. The bellows are contained in the base of the cabinet. This was evidently added when the conversion took place, and is cleverly painted in imitation of the older marquetry work above .. The compass of the instrument was probably determined by the space available in the cabinet recess. The keys have ivory naturals and ebony sharps, the fronts of the former being decorated with interlaced arcading. \nSpecification (stop names conjectural):\nGedact 8 ft stopped wood\nGedactfkite 4 ft stopped wood\nPrincipal 2 ft open wood and metal\nQuint 1 <sup>1/3</sup> ft open metal\nRegal 8 ft metal\nCompass: apparently C (bass short octave) to a<sup>2</sup> (no \ntop g sharp), 41 notes. \n\nAll registers draw in halves by means of sliders with small leaden handles concealed behind small hinged panels on the left- and right-hand sides of the cabinet. Dimensions: H. 51 in (129·5 cm), W. 44¼ in (112·5 cm), D. 23 in (58·5 cm). \nMuseum No.: 216-1879. \nNote: Some other small keyboard instruments built into cabinets of this kind are known. Russell illustrates a spinet (Fig. 8 1 3 ). An organ built into a cabinet, with the bellows on top, is illustrated by Lise Lotte M0ller, Das Wrangelschrank ... , Berlin, 1950.'"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"Roman ruins","id":"x37522"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Cabinet organ, about 1600 (upper part of cabinet), 1650 (addition of organ), about 1750–1850 (alterations)\r\n\r\nUnrecorded Augsburg workshop, with alterations by later makers\r\n\r\nMade to dazzle the imagination, this decorative cabinet organ is an example of luxury furniture popular in wealthy European homes in the 1600s and 1700s. These cabinets served as both personal storage and prestigious showpieces to be unveiled at social gatherings. Even the cabinet's surface provided visual entertainment, with fantastical imagery of ancient ruins. This cabinet also evolved over time with the addition of a playable organ instrument. \r\n\n[V&amp;A East Museum: Why We Make gallery]","date":{"text":"18/4/2026","earliest":"2026-04-18","latest":"2026-04-18"}},{"text":"CABINET ORGAN\r\nSouth German, about 1610\r\nVarious woods on pine carcase. The naturals are covered with bone and the sharps stained fruitwood. The instrument's range is forty-one notes, E -g2, a2 (missing g2 sharp). \r\n \r\n Keyboard Catalogue No.: 12. \r\n \r\nThe upper half is in the form of a cabinet, with decoration characteristic of Southern German marquetry furniture from about 1550 until 1600. The pipes are concealed in the lower half and a pedal is just visible underneath.\r\n\r\n216-1879","date":{"text":"1/1/1992","earliest":"1992-01-01","latest":"1992-01-01"}}],"partNumbers":["216:1-1879","216:2-1879","216:3-1879","216:4-1879","216:5-1879","216:6-1879","216:7-1879","216:8-1879","216:9-1879","216:10-1879","216:11-1879","216:12-1879","216:13-1879","216:14-1879","216:15-1879","216:16-1879","216:17-1879","216:18-1879","216:19-1879","216:20-1879","216:21-1879","216:22-1879","216:23-1879","216:24-1879","216:25-1879","216:26-1879","216:27-1879","216:28-1879","216:29-1879","216:30-1879","216:31-1879","216:32-1879","216:33-1879","216:34-1879","216:35-1879","216:36-1879","216:37-1879","216:38-1879","216:39-1879","216:40-1879","216:41-1879","216:42-1879","216:43-1879"],"accessionNumberNum":"216","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1879,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Cabinet organ","Key"],"assets":["2021NC0596","2023NN3813"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-21","recordCreationDate":"2001-05-16","availableToBook":false}}