Cabinet on stand: Endymion Cabinet, Paris, France, 1640-1650. Softwood and oak carcase with cedar and mahogany elements, veneered in ebony, with solid elements in ebonized woods; marquetry of brazilwood, ebony, mahogany, purplewood, rosewood, snakewood, tulipwood and possibly other tropical hardwoods, with ivory, green-stained bone and turtleshell; mirror glass; handles of iron or brass; keyhole escutcheons of brass. 1651:1 to 3-1856 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Cabinets like this one were the height of fashion in France from about 1640 to 1660. They were used to house collections of precious objects and natural rarities, such as unusual shells, but they were also admired as luxury objects in their own right. Ebony was at that time the most fashionable wood for veneering cabinets. It was imported into France at great expense from Africa, Madagascar and India. In France the skilled woodworkers who made cabinets of this kind came to be called "ébénistes", after the wood they used most. The outside of this cabinet is carved with scenes taken from the engraved illustrations to a novel first published in Paris in 1624. It is the story of the goddess Diana and her love for the youthful shepherd Endymion.

A cabinet in solid ebony and ebony veneers on a case of softwood and oak, on an open stand of ebonized softwood, with spiral-turned legs in ebonized fruitwood (probably pear), the cabinet with two doors, the whole with carved and engraved decoration of scenes from a novel L’Endimion (1624). The cabinet opens to reveal two banks of five drawers, carved with scenes of the Labours of the Months, flanking a pair of doors with a single, longer drawer above and beneath. The internal doors in turn open to reveal a caisson (a nest of small drawers, also sometimes called a prospect when, as here, it is of theatrical form), the surfaces veneered with a variety of tropical hardwoods, ivory, green-stained bone and turtleshell or set with mirror glass. The caisson is set with two visible and six hidden drawers.

Construction 
The Cabinet 
The case is of softwood and oak, of tenoned construction, stabilised by an interlocking framework of dust boards and drawer dividers. The show surfaces are all veneered in ebony and other exterior faces are painted black. The backboard is composed of three butt-jointed softwood boards running horizontally, with a heavy chamfer on all four edges. Both the inner and outer doors are of cleated construction, in softwood. Elements of the cabinet construction appear to have been heavily modified in the nineteenth century. Some veneers on the sides may have been replaced.

The thick carved plaques of ebony forming the sides of the frieze are simply glued on to the case. The decorative plaques on the front of the drawers are similarly attached to the case. The veneers are probably inset into shallow recessed areas cut into the front of the case, as was customary to create a level surface to which the carved plaques or the ripple moulding could be applied to cover the necessary joins.

The frieze drawers have fronts of oak and sides and bases of cedar. The drawers within the main doors of the cabinet are of cedar, the fronts faced with plaques of carved ebony and edged with ripple mouldings.

The caisson is constructed as a separate box and is inserted, from the back, into the space between the upright dividers before the back is fitted. The smaller drawers within the caisson are of cedar. Most of the drawers within the caisson are fitted with removable trays in mahogany.

The Stand 
The stand is of ebonized softwood and ebonized fruitwood (probably pear), with carved ebony plaques on the drawer fronts and the frieze blocks above the legs and ebony veneer on the side of the frieze section. The spiral-turned front legs are built up in three thicknesses of ebonized wood. The undecorated back legs are of ebonized wood (possibly beech) and continue below the base panel to form the back feet of the stand. The front legs are tenoned down into the base panel through a square plinth and a similar plinth is set below, through which the bun feet are tenoned up.

The three drawers of the frieze of the stand are of softwood, with sides and bases of cedar. The top surfaces of the drawer fronts were veneered in softwood before being ebonized. The locks on the right and central drawers have been replaced with English locks, possibly just before or after acquisition by the Museum. The frieze drawers are lined with blue sugar paper, added after the locks were changed.

Decoration (see also The story of Endymion, in 'History') 
The Cabinet 
Scenes from the story of Endymion are carved on both sides of the two doors that fill the whole front of the cabinet above a narrow plinth and below an entablature with a cushion frieze (formed of the fronts of two drawers).

On the left-hand door the main scene is of Diana, with her nymphs, espying Endymion and shooting at him with Cupid’s arrows. On the right-hand door the scene is of the young man Hermodan, witnessed by Endymion and the armed band, kneeling and embracing the myrtle into which Diophonie, the girl whom he loves, has been changed. On the left door the top of the frame is carved with a figure of a woman, with bow and arrow in either hand, seated in a chariot drawn by stags. This derives from the illustration showing Sthenobée being drawn in a chariot towards the sacrifice of Endymion, but the disposition of the stags has been altered, and the figure is based on that of Diana in the frontispiece to the novel. On the right door the top of the frame is carved with a figure of Diana bound to a tree with ropes. The spandrels of the doors show individual figures playing musical instruments.

The upper frieze is carved in low relief as a continuous scene between figures of putti carved in high relief, with fruit and vines. In the centre, a moon encircled by a wreath of clouds continues onto each of the drawers. The left drawer is carved with Diana speaking to a nymph and with Diana in a chariot drawn by three horses, with an arc behind her engraved with symbols of the zodiac. On the right drawer, against a starry sky, is a carving of a bird (with the head of a woman, and with a chariot carrying two figures and pulled by two dragon-like monsters), and Ismène offering the magic potion to Endymion. On the sides of the cabinet, the frieze is set with similar, convex panels, carved on each side with a reclining figure bearing a torch and playing a trumpet.

On each side of the cabinet, with various framing elements and ripple mouldings, is a thicker ebony plaques, carved in low relief. The scene on the left shows the figure of Endymion leaning on a staff and talking to the priestess. The scene on the right shows Endymion kneeling before Diana.

The inside surfaces of the main doors bear a ripple-moulded double frame enclosing central octagons carved in low relief. On the left door, Endymion, before he is sacrificed, is crowned with flowers by the weeping Sthenobée. On the right, Endymion is shown kneeling for sacrifice, the priest taking the knife from Sthenobée, and is inscribed with the title L’Endimion. The outer and inner frames are veneered in ebony and incised with tulips and other flowers. The corners of both doors have spandrel panels carved in low relief with individual figures, kneeling or seated, carrying torches or flaming vases. The right-hand door is applied on the leading edge with a brass lock and the left-hand door with bolt mechanisms to secure the door at top and bottom.

The cabinet is fitted with two sliding shelves at the base, veneered on their top surfaces with a grid of rectangular panels in brazilwood and tulipwood against a ground of ebony, and an eight-pointed star in ebony and brazilwood. The front edge of each shelf is set with an oval loop handle in iron. Above these shelves the case is fitted with banks of five drawers to either side of a pair of small doors with two longer drawers, one above and one below the doors. The fronts of all the drawers are set with ebony plaques, carved in low relief and framed with ebonized ripple mouldings. The fronts of the smaller drawers show the Labours of the Months (the engraved source for these as yet evading identification), each with a small brass knob. The two central doors have panels of ebony carved in low-relief, within arches below triangular pediments, depicting (left) Apollo with his lyre and a dragon, and (right) Diana with a hound, her bow and a spear.

Within the central doors is the caisson. The inside surfaces of the doors are each veneered in tropical woods, ivory and green-stained bone to show, in trompe l’oeil, an classical architectural façade with arched doorway below a cupola. The prospect, in ebony, brazilwood and ivory (some engraved with flowers and foliage), shows an arcade of four semi-circular arches. The two central arches are open, and the outer two are set with drawers. Behind the central two arches are recesses (with a black and white, perspective ‘tiled’ floor), created by panels of mirror set diagonally, which flank a narrow pilaster engraved on ivory with the figure of a man. In front of this figure runs a central balustrade on which a small figure, if placed, would be reflected in the mirrors. The floor to the front of the alcove and flanking door cases is veneered with a design of stars and triangles. The ceiling is also of marquetry. The sides of the caisson are set with mirror panels below fan-shaped panels of marquetry. Four apparent drawer fronts above the arcade are veneered with snakewood and brazilwood with green-stained bone, and turned brass knobs. The central two drawer fronts conceal a single drawer.

Below the two outer arches of the arcade are panels veneered as door cases, set between Corinthian columns (veneered in turtleshell and ivory) above a balustrade of ivory and ebony. When the outer drawers in the arcade above are removed, a loose panel below each drawer can be slid out, allowing the ‘door cases’ to be removed, revealing a bank of three secret drawers veneered with snakewood and brazilwood, with small pulls of green silk ribbon (probably 19th century).

The Stand 
The open stand has a low, undecorated stretcher panel, on undecorated bun feet. The four spiral-turned front legs are each carved in the lower half with a pair of putti holding a swag of flowers above a grotesque mask. On the upper half, the spiral turning is lightly engraved with vine leaves and grapes. In the frieze section, the three drawer fronts are carved in low relief with scenes of Diana and her nymphs hunting. Below each drawer front is a pendant apron panel, faced in ebony carved in low relief, depicting putti with flowers, fruit or palms around a blank auricular cartouche. The drawers show cut-brass keyhole mounts (some missing) but no handles. The blocks between the drawers and above each leg are carved with grotesque masks (between the drawers) and auricular shields (above the legs). The sides of the frieze are plain