The Witcombe Cabinet, English, japanned and silvered wood, about 1697

Key information

Museum number

2006.4

Object

The Witcombe Cabinet, English, japanned and silvered wood, about 1697

Gallery label

The Witcombe Cabinet
English
Japanned and silvered wood, about 1697

The cabinet is in remarkable condition and is unusual in retaining its original silvered stand and cresting (above). Imported Chinese and Japanese porcelain would have been displayed on the brackets on the cresting. Lacquer cabinets were a great status symbol in the late seventeenth century. The secret of genuine Japanese lacquer was unknown but English craftsmen imitated it using varnish and shellac, known as japanning. A fine imported Japanese lacquer cabinet would cost up to £50, an English japanned cabinet sold for less than half that amount.

This magnificent cabinet, the finest of its type known, shows the superb quality that some English japanners were able to achieve. Instead of being made to imitate lacquer this cabinet with its rare white background was intended to resemble porcelain, such as the two Chinese famille verte plates in the case next door. The shellac varnish has since darkened giving the cabinet a yellowish hue.

The cabinet was made for Sir Michael Hickes (1645–1710) of Witcombe Park in Gloucestershire. Sir Michael, originally from London, built a new house on the estate in 1697. The cabinet was displayed against a fine set of tapestries inherited from Sir Michael’s grandmother. It remained at Witcombe Park for over three hundred years.

2006.4
Accepted by HM Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Holburne Museum, 2005

On display?

Yes
image fig 2
image fig- 1
image fig- 4
image fig- 6
image whitcombe cabinet 122
image whitcombe cabinet 123
image whitcombe cabinet 124
image witcombe cabinet (1)
image witcombe cabinet (2)
image witcombe cabinet (3)
image witcombe cabinet (4)
image witcombe cabinet (5)
image witcombe cabinet (6)
image witcombe cabinet (7)
image witcombe cabinet (8)
image witcombe cabinet (9)
image witcombe cabinet (10)
image witcombe cabinet (11)
image witcombe cabinet (12)
image witcombe cabinet (13)
image witcombe cabinet (14)
image witcombe cabinet (15)
image witcombe cabinet (16)
image witcombe cabinet (17)
image witcombe cabinet (18)
image witcombe cabinet (19)
image witcombe cabinet (20)
image witcombe cabinet (21)
image witcombe cabinet (22)
image witcombe cabinet (23)
image witcombe cabinet (24)
image witcombe cabinet (25)
image witcombe cabinet (26)
image witcombe cabinet (27)
image witcombe cabinet (28)
image witcombe cabinet (29)
image witcombe cabinet (30)
image witcombe cabinet (31)
image witcombe cabinet (32)
image witcombe cabinet (33)
image witcombe cabinet (34)
image witcombe cabinet (35)
image witcombe cabinet (36)
image witcombe cabinet (37)
image witcombe cabinet (38)
image witcombe cabinet (39)
image witcombe cabinet (40)
image witcombe cabinet (41)
image witcombe cabinet (42)
image witcombe cabinet (43)
image witcombe cabinet (44)
image witcombe cabinet (45)
image witcombe cabinet (46)
image witcombe cabinet (47)
image witcombe cabinet (48)
image witcombe cabinet (49)
image witcombe cabinet (50)
image witcombe cabinet (51)
image witcombe cabinet (52)
image witcombe cabinet (53)
image witcombe cabinet (54)
image witcombe cabinet (55)
image witcombe cabinet (56)
image witcombe cabinet (57)
image witcombe cabinet (58)
image witcombe cabinet (59)
image witcombe cabinet (60)
image witcombe cabinet (61)
image witcombe cabinet (62)
image witcombe cabinet (63)
image witcombe cabinet (64)
image witcombe cabinet (65)
image witcombe cabinet (66)
image witcombe cabinet (67)
image witcombe cabinet (68)
image witcombe cabinet (69)
image witcombe cabinet (70)
image witcombe cabinet (71)
image witcombe cabinet (72)
image witcombe cabinet (73)
image witcombe cabinet (74)
image witcombe cabinet (75)
image witcombe cabinet (76)
image witcombe cabinet (77)
image witcombe cabinet (78)
image witcombe cabinet (79)
image witcombe cabinet (80)
image witcombe cabinet (81)
image witcombe cabinet (82)
image witcombe cabinet (83)
image witcombe cabinet (84)
image witcombe cabinet (85)
image witcombe cabinet (86)
image witcombe cabinet (87)
image witcombe cabinet (88)
image witcombe cabinet (89)
image witcombe cabinet (90)
image witcombe cabinet (91)
image witcombe cabinet (92)
image witcombe cabinet (93)
image witcombe cabinet (94)
image witcombe cabinet (95)
image witcombe cabinet (96)
image witcombe cabinet (97)
image witcombe cabinet (98)
image witcombe cabinet (99)
image witcombe cabinet (100)
image witcombe cabinet (101)
image witcombe cabinet (102)
image witcombe cabinet (103)
image witcombe cabinet (104)
image witcombe cabinet (105)
image witcombe cabinet (106)
image witcombe cabinet (107)
image witcombe cabinet (108)
image witcombe cabinet (109)
image witcombe cabinet (110)
image witcombe cabinet (111)
image witcombe cabinet (112)
image witcombe cabinet (113)
image witcombe cabinet (114)
image witcombe cabinet (115)
image witcombe cabinet (116)
image witcombe cabinet 064
image witcombe cabinet 069
Prev image
Next image
image fig 2 image fig- 1 image fig- 4 image fig- 6 image whitcombe cabinet 122 image whitcombe cabinet 123 image whitcombe cabinet 124 image witcombe cabinet (1) image witcombe cabinet (2) image witcombe cabinet (3) image witcombe cabinet (4) image witcombe cabinet (5) image witcombe cabinet (6) image witcombe cabinet (7) image witcombe cabinet (8) image witcombe cabinet (9) image witcombe cabinet (10) image witcombe cabinet (11) image witcombe cabinet (12) image witcombe cabinet (13) image witcombe cabinet (14) image witcombe cabinet (15) image witcombe cabinet (16) image witcombe cabinet (17) image witcombe cabinet (18) image witcombe cabinet (19) image witcombe cabinet (20) image witcombe cabinet (21) image witcombe cabinet (22) image witcombe cabinet (23) image witcombe cabinet (24) image witcombe cabinet (25) image witcombe cabinet (26) image witcombe cabinet (27) image witcombe cabinet (28) image witcombe cabinet (29) image witcombe cabinet (30) image witcombe cabinet (31) image witcombe cabinet (32) image witcombe cabinet (33) image witcombe cabinet (34) image witcombe cabinet (35) image witcombe cabinet (36) image witcombe cabinet (37) image witcombe cabinet (38) image witcombe cabinet (39) image witcombe cabinet (40) image witcombe cabinet (41) image witcombe cabinet (42) image witcombe cabinet (43) image witcombe cabinet (44) image witcombe cabinet (45) image witcombe cabinet (46) image witcombe cabinet (47) image witcombe cabinet (48) image witcombe cabinet (49) image witcombe cabinet (50) image witcombe cabinet (51) image witcombe cabinet (52) image witcombe cabinet (53) image witcombe cabinet (54) image witcombe cabinet (55) image witcombe cabinet (56) image witcombe cabinet (57) image witcombe cabinet (58) image witcombe cabinet (59) image witcombe cabinet (60) image witcombe cabinet (61) image witcombe cabinet (62) image witcombe cabinet (63) image witcombe cabinet (64) image witcombe cabinet (65) image witcombe cabinet (66) image witcombe cabinet (67) image witcombe cabinet (68) image witcombe cabinet (69) image witcombe cabinet (70) image witcombe cabinet (71) image witcombe cabinet (72) image witcombe cabinet (73) image witcombe cabinet (74) image witcombe cabinet (75) image witcombe cabinet (76) image witcombe cabinet (77) image witcombe cabinet (78) image witcombe cabinet (79) image witcombe cabinet (80) image witcombe cabinet (81) image witcombe cabinet (82) image witcombe cabinet (83) image witcombe cabinet (84) image witcombe cabinet (85) image witcombe cabinet (86) image witcombe cabinet (87) image witcombe cabinet (88) image witcombe cabinet (89) image witcombe cabinet (90) image witcombe cabinet (91) image witcombe cabinet (92) image witcombe cabinet (93) image witcombe cabinet (94) image witcombe cabinet (95) image witcombe cabinet (96) image witcombe cabinet (97) image witcombe cabinet (98) image witcombe cabinet (99) image witcombe cabinet (100) image witcombe cabinet (101) image witcombe cabinet (102) image witcombe cabinet (103) image witcombe cabinet (104) image witcombe cabinet (105) image witcombe cabinet (106) image witcombe cabinet (107) image witcombe cabinet (108) image witcombe cabinet (109) image witcombe cabinet (110) image witcombe cabinet (111) image witcombe cabinet (112) image witcombe cabinet (113) image witcombe cabinet (114) image witcombe cabinet (115) image witcombe cabinet (116) image witcombe cabinet 064 image witcombe cabinet 069

Contact Us

The Holburne Museum Great Pulteney Street Bath BA2 4DB

Opening Hours

We are open daily 10am to 5pm (Sunday and Bank Holiday 11am to 5pm)
Powered by MuseumIndex+ CollectionsOnline