Cabinet

Cabinets were usually easily transportable, compact items of furniture reminiscent of small cupboards intended for storing small items. They have a very ornate exterior. Luxurious materials (blackwood, ivory, silver, amber) were used for their decoration, sometimes the pietra dura technique was employed, combining different stones into a mosaic. This was done as a display of the owner's status and wealth.
The cabinet that is part of the museum's collections dates to the end of the 16th century, it is richly decorated using the intarsia technique, where a timber of a different type, colour and texture is inlaid into the carved out surface of the wooden object. This cabinet is adorned with images of cities, architectural elements, plant ornaments and human and bird figures.
The German city of Augsburg, where this piece by an unknown author was created, was one of the most important centres in Europe where the manufacture of such cabinets flourished in the 16th–17th centuries.