Another of Mazarin’s cabinets that had formerly belonged to his great predecessor, Richelieu, is described as being decorated with wavy mouldings (guilloches) and compartments ornamented with various flowers, masques and half figures, the frieze bearing marine monsters and the middle of the doors having an octagonal panel in which is an Amphion on a dolphin. It rested on a base of four ebony columns united in front, and four pear-wood pilasters behind; and between the columns was a cartouche bearing the arms of the deceased Cardinal Richelieu. This cabinet was 5 feet in length; 1 foot, 7 inches in depth; and 5 feet, 10 inches in height. This was evidently an excellent typical specimen of pure Louis XIII. work, since it was made for Richelieu.
These rare cabinets were undoubtedly the origin of the Boulle furniture of the next reign, and they existed in great numbers until destroyed during the Revolution. The few that survived the ravages of the mob are preserved in museums and private collections.
The cabinets à porte (cabinets with doors) were, as a rule, more severe than the sumptuous articles just described. They depend far more upon the architectural form and talent displayed by the cabinet-maker and designer than upon the skill and art of the decorator. The first cabinets à porte date from the Renaissance, and received their name at the moment when one kind of bahut, placed on four feet, contested popularity with another kind that stood on a base with doors, and foreshadowed the form of those pieces of furniture called à deux corps. The construction of these pieces, no matter how fine the execution of their mouldings, panels, and doors, was as a rule massive, and was the work of the joiners and carvers instead of the ébénistes and marqueteurs.
One of these double cabinets is shown on Plates [II.] and [IV.], the upper part appearing in No. 2 on Plate [II.], and the lower in No. 2 on Plate [IV.] A carved oak bahut is shown on Plate [IV.], No. 1. Another walnut double cabinet is shown on Plate [II.], No. 4. A cabinet of another variety appears on Plate [III.], No. 1. This is made of oak and cedar inlaid with rosewood, and has two doors in front with projecting panels, and an oval moulding in the centre and one outside drawer with brass drop handles.
The cabinet-makers of Southern Germany also excelled in their art, and their Kunstschranken were sought for presents to princes. The most famous piece of furniture of this class is known as the “Pomeranian Art Cabinet,” now in the Chamber of Arts in Berlin. It was made between 1611 and 1617 for Philip II., Duke of Pomerania. Philip Heinhofer of Augsburg designed it and it was made in that town by Baumgartner. The elaborateness of this cabinet may be appreciated from the great number of workmen employed in its construction. These included three painters, one sculptor, one painter in enamel, six goldsmiths, two clock-makers, an organ-maker, a mechanician, a modeller in wax, a cabinet-maker, an engraver upon metal, an engraver of precious stones, a turner, two locksmiths, a binder and two sheath-makers. This cabinet is 4 feet, 10 inches high, 3 feet, 4 inches wide, and 2 feet, 10 inches deep. It is made of ebony with sandal-wood drawers lined with red morocco, and mounted with silver and pietra dura work. It is supported on four griffins with heads and manes of silver gilt but the real weight is borne upon a large scroll. The base is inlaid with small panels of lapis-lazuli, jasper, cornelian and agate, with plates of chased silver between them. The upper and lower friezes are composed of fruit, and other ornaments consist of female figures and boys playing musical instruments. There are also medallions of silver and Limoges enamel.
A fine example of a cabinet of the Seventeenth Century was owned by Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill. This was 5 feet high and 3 feet wide, composed of ebony, rosso antico columns, lapis-lazuli and bloodstone panels, with settings of or moulu and precious stones. Neptune was represented in the central niche and on either side Tritons and sea nymphs sported. Beneath these were serpents and shells, horses, griffins, lions, bulls and dogs. In the panels above children were fishing with nets and rods. The whole was supported on four ebony legs ornamented with gold. Tables of the period were also most ornate.
Vasari speaks of a “splendid library” table made by Bernardo Buontalenti, at the order of Francesco de’ Medici. It was “of ebony veneered with ebony divided into compartments by columns of heliotrope, oriental jasper, and lapis-lazuli, which have the vases and capitals of chased silver. The work is furthermore enriched with jewels, beautiful ornaments of silver, and exquisite little figures interspersed with miniatures and terminal figures of silver and gold in full relief united in pairs. There are besides other compartments formed of jasper, agates, heliotropes, sardonyxes, carnelians, and other precious stones.”
The armoire did not lose its importance until the end of the Seventeenth Century, when it was relegated to the Garde-Robes; but the armoires, called placards, hidden under the panels of the room, remained. Mazarin had an armoire in his Garde-Robe 7 feet high and 5 feet 3 inches wide.
In the inventory of Madame de Mercœur, the garde-robe contains armoires, a bed and seats, and gives a hint of the dressing-table by “a table with drawer, having a housse of red serge d’Aumalle.”
The feature of a Louis XIII. room that formed one of its chief attractions was its tapestries and other hangings. Wherever the furniture would admit of it, a gay cloth was spread or hung. The parquet, boarded, or tiled floor also was partly covered with rugs from the Levant.