17th Century Dutch-Colonial Indonesian Sono Keeling Foliate Cabinet on Stand

Jakarta (Batavia), late 17th century
Measures: H 173 x W 133 x D 51 cm

The front of this cabinet is decorated with three carved swags of fruits and flowers coming out of cherub’s heads, a long drawer under two doors and two shelves behind the doors.

Usually, this type cabinet on stand in the former Dutch East-Indies is plain, but in the Netherlands cabinets with the carvings of swags, flowers and fruits coming out of cherub’s mouths and often ending in tassels, known as ‘Rankenkasten’, were quite popular in the 17th century. In the former Dutch East-Indies, this type of carving is not common, partly because the use of glue was problematic in the tropics but also because only a Dutch carver was used to making this type of decoration. The present cabinet is one of very few known
colonial ‘Rankenkasten’. There is one in the collection of the Kunstmuseum Den Haag (Titus Eliëns, ed. Wonen op de Kaap en in Batavia 1602-1795, p. 84), and another one illustrated in Uit Verre Streken, November 2018, nr. 35.

Provenance: Collection Jan Veenendaal.