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Secretary cabinet

ca. 1735
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 512
Japanning, a fashionable European technique intended to imitate Asian lacquer, was very popular in England beginning in the last quarter of the seventeenth-century. Special manuals were published such as John Stalker and George Parker’s A Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing (London, 1688), which contained technical information on how to make lacquer-like varnishes as well as useful designs for the decoration of furniture. The vogue for japanning remained strong during the eighteenth century as is evidenced by the 1732 publication of The Method of Learning to Draw in Perspective…Likewise a New and Curious Method of Japanning…so as to imitate China: and to make black or gilt Japan-Ware as Beautiful and Light as any brought from the East-Indies. A large number of extant pieces of japanned furniture also underscore their one time popularity.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Secretary cabinet
  • Date: ca. 1735
  • Culture: British
  • Medium: Oak, pine, and walnut decorated in red, gold, and silver japanning; brass; mirror glass
  • Dimensions: Overall: 81 × 41 1/4 × 22 in. (205.7 × 104.8 × 55.9 cm)
  • Classification: Woodwork-Furniture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Acquisitions Benefit Fund 2013; Gift of Mrs. Edward Karfiol, in memory of Edward Karfiol; Gift of Bernard M. Baruch, in memory of his wife, Annie Griffen Baruch; and Gifts of Irwin Untermyer, George Blumenthal and Mrs. Russell Sage, by exchange, 2014
  • Object Number: 2014.186a, b
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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Gamba Bow, Wood, British
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Fall-front Secretary, Mahogany veneer, mahogany, ebonized wood, pine, poplar, cherry, white oak, brass, leather, mirror glass, American
Fall-front Secretary
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1833–ca. 1841
Medal cabinet, William Vile British, Mahogany with carved and applied decoration, British
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Attributed to John Cobb
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