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A FLEMISH EBONY, EBONISED AND POLYCHROME-PAINTED CABINET-ON-STAND THE CABINET ANTWERP, FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURY, THE PAINTED PANELS ATTRIBUTED TO HENDRICK VAN BALEN I, THE STAND LATER The hinged rectangular top with a secret compartment painted with Apollo and the Muses, above a pair of panelled doors, the interior of the left door painted with Vertumnus and Pomona, the right one with Venus and Cupid, enclosing an architectural interior with ten similarly decorated drawers arranged around a central colonnaded cupboard door depicting 'Time and Destiny', fitted with a mirror to the reverse and revealing four panelled drawers and a secret compartment, the sides with carrying handles, above a long drawer, the stand with turned tapering legs joined by stretchers and terminating in bun feet 64? in. (164 cm.) high; 36 in. (91.5 cm.) wide; 17? in. (44 cm.) deep
In the 17th century, Antwerp was the leading European centre for painted cabinets, a production encouraged by Philip II of Spain's 1603 ban on the import of Nuremberg cabinets. Contemporary painted interiors show that they were display pieces, with the ebony doors often open to display small oil paintings. These cabinets were used to house collections of jewellery, silver, minerals, shells and other specimen, a link with the princely tradition of the kunstkammer.
Hendrick van Balen I (1573-1632) was a master of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke and ran his own workshop for thirty years, counting Anthony van Dyck as one of his pupils. Although he began his career painting large-scale altarpieces, Van Balen is best known for his pictures on cabinets. In keeping with the popular taste of the time, mythological scenes frequently occur on his small-scale paintings and often feature imagery from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Popular subjects depicted on the drawers of the present cabinet include Narcissus, Diana and Endymion, Neptune and Amphitrite as well as a Triton and Nereid. A related cabinet on stand attributed to Van Balen was sold Sotheby's, London, 25 May 2001, lot 36 (£58,000 including premium).