An Italian gilt-bronze-and silver-mounted ebony cabinet, probably Lombard second half 16th century

Comparative Literature:
Alvar González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, Milan, 1986, p. 262, fig. 530, and p. 264, fig. 531.  
J. F. Hayward, Virtuoso Goldsmiths and the Triumph of Mannerisim 1540-1620, London, 1976.
Enrico Colle, Museo d'Arti Applicate, Mobili e intagli lignei, Milan, 1996 , pp. 176-177, no. 257, p. 178, no. 258.

There has been a longstanding tradition of metalworking in Lombardy since Renaissance times. Furthermore, it is well known that magnificent armour was being produced in Milan and Brescia since the 16th century. It is also highly likely that these very same armourers due to their prodigious skill in working metal, produced metal elements which were then applied on to furniture and cabinets in particular, such as the present virtuoso example.

These cabinets were fashioned in steel, gold and silver and A.G.P., op. cit., p. 264, fig. 531, illustrates a cabinet in gold and silver signed by Giuseppe De Vico, circa 1567, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Also see another cabinet mounted with panels in silver and gold dated to the second half of the 16th century, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 
Finally, it is also worthwhile considering a cabinet  catalogued as possibly German, illustrated by Colle, op. cit., p.178, as there was also a tradition for the production of these types of silver and gold mounted cabinets in Germany.