"Fuseaux" Cabinet

ca. 1925

Not on view

The formal simplicity of this cabinet provides a backdrop for an extraordinarily complex and subtle marquetry pattern. The body of the piece is raised on four fuseau (spindle-shaped) legs, which give the model its name. The Met purchased the cabinet directly from Ruhlmann in 1925. It probably was intended to be a sort of man’s dressing table (a vide-poche, or “pocket emptier”), though records in the Ruhlmann archive show that the model could also be adapted for use as a cabinet for liquor or cigars.

Artwork Details

Title: "Fuseaux" Cabinet
Designer: Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann (French, Paris 1879–1933 Paris)
Date: ca. 1925
Medium: Macassar ebony, ivory, silk, silvered bronze
Dimensions: 39 1/8 × 33 1/4 × 19 3/8 in. (99.4 × 84.5 × 49.2 cm)
Classification: Furniture
Credit Line: Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1925
Object Number: 25.231.2
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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Collector's Cabinet, Iacopo Fiamengo Italian, Ebony, African blackwood, ebonized wood; ivory (engraved and carved) and bone; case: coniferous wood; drawers: beech, coniferous wood, walnut; knobs, lock, hinges: gilt iron with modern bronze paint <br/><br/>Primary woods and materials: ebony, African blackwood, ebonized wood (veneer applied to the back); ivory (engraved and carved); bone (stringing)<br/>Drawer knobs, lock, hinges: gilt iron with modern bronze paint <br/>Secondary woods: <br/>Case: coniferous wood <br/>Drawers: beech, coniferous wood, walnut; stained poplar and coniferous wood used for modern casings of locks, Italian, Naples — Collector's Cabinet
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