Miniature Augsburg cabinet casket, 17th century

Rare cabinet inlaid with indigenous woods, decorated with architectural perspectives.
Augsburg, 17th century.

A very small architectural cabinet—almost a cabinet in miniature—intended for table use and most likely also for travel, made of solid woods with marquetry on all sides. It opens with a fall-front revealing eight drawers (the lower one simulating two).

No fewer than eight wood species are used in its construction: the carcass is in pine, with cherrywood for the visible parts, inlaid with large central reserves of sycamore maple framed by plumwood bands, themselves bordered by double rows of small alternating rectangles of plumwood and boxwood, all edged with numerous fine walnut stringings.

The interior, decorated with village perspectives or “architectural caprices” and wild vegetation, is composed of the same woods—maple, plum, and boxwood—along with stained pearwood, framed by walnut mouldings, while the panel of the door includes a band of beechwood.

The construction of this cabinet is of high quality, extending beyond its decorative façade to the entire piece: the top, sides, and back are equally refined, as is the internal structure, with finely executed dovetail joints for the drawers, which slide on intermediate supports.

Original iron handles and escutcheon.
The piece is in very good condition, carefully restored by our cabinetmaker and finished with a wax polish.

This type of cabinet originated in the mid-16th century in Bavarian Swabia, particularly in Augsburg, and later spread to neighboring Tyrol. Although known examples are generally small in scale, it is extremely rare to encounter one of such diminutive size while retaining all the characteristics of a full cabinet.

Dimensions: Height 14.3 cm x Width 17.3 cm x Depth 13 cm