Cabinet on stand, ca. 1700–1710
Attributed to Jan van Mekeren (Dutch, 1658–1733)
Dutch; Amsterdam
Oak veneered with kingwood, tulipwood, rosewood, ebony, olive wood, holly, and other marquetry woods; H. 70 1/4 in. (178.5 cm)
Ruth and Victoria Blumka Fund, 1995 (1995.371)
Technical Glossary
Attributed to Jan van Mekeren (Dutch, 1658–1733)
Dutch; Amsterdam
Oak veneered with kingwood, tulipwood, rosewood, ebony, olive wood, holly, and other marquetry woods; H. 70 1/4 in. (178.5 cm)
Ruth and Victoria Blumka Fund, 1995 (1995.371)
This cabinet is the smallest but most pictorial of seven similar known examples attributed to cabinetmaker van Mekeren. Specializing in the production of luxurious marquetry furniture for Amsterdam patricians, van Mekeren excelled in the skillful use of different woods to create a refined polychromy. Dutch floral marquetry may well have been developed about 1650 by Pierre Gole (ca. 1620–1684), a cabinetmaker from the Netherlands who worked at the French court. This glorious piece of furniture, with its large bouquets of naturalistic flowers echoing contemporary still-life paintings, represents the culmination of this marquetry tradition.
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Related Index Terms
Material and Technique
- • Wood, Furniture
- • Wood, Furniture, Europe
- • Wood, Furniture, Europe, Low Countries
- • Wood, organized by technique
- • Wood, organized by technique, Polychromed
- • Wood, organized by type
- • Wood, organized by type, Ebony
- • Wood, organized by type, Exotic woods
- • Wood, organized by type, Marquetry woods
- • Wood, organized by type, Oak
- • Wood, organized by type, Rosewood
