German, Germany, probably Augsburg

This elegant lockable cabinet offered its owner ten drawers for securing valuables and a surface for writing. Its elaborate scenes suggest it was prominently displayed. The fantastical architectural design most likely came from print sources such as Lorenz Stöer’s 1567 Geometria et Perspectiva, subtitled “Herein are a few ruined buildings, useful to cabinetmakers working in inlaid wood.”

Close looking reveals that the maker positioned the woodgrain to enhance the composition. The grain travels across the sky in each scene, and the architectural elements gain height through its vertical placement. The shading on the music sheets on the front interior was achieved by burning those pieces of marquetry in hot sand.