A silver-mounted carved ebony and ebonised cabinet on stand, Paris Louis XIII, second quarter 17th century, the stand partly later

with two bowed frieze drawers above two doors decorated with octagonal medallions  with scenes depicting `Isaac blessing Jacob' and `Esau sells his birthright to Jacob', enclosing four long drawers and six short drawers decorated with birds and scrolling foliage flanking two doors opening to reveal parquetry decoration on the inside of the doors, floor and walls with a drawer above a painted scene and mirrors flanked by ten short drawers, the stand with two frieze drawers on six spirally-twisted legs joined by a stretcher, elaborately decorated with busts, putti, cherubs, vases, flowers and scrolling foliage

In overall good conserved condition. Attractive detail to carving. Old very minor marks, chips and scratches commensurate with age and normal usage. There are vertical construction cracks down the doors and a hairline vertical construction crack down the left side of the cabinet which can easily be filled. There is a strip of moulding on both sides towards the rear edge which appears to be later but this is hardly noticable. The hinges have been replaced on the doors. Evidence of old minor worm which appears to be no longer active. The silver mounts are dirty and would benefit from a light clean. There are scatterered cracks generally e.g. on the internal cupboard doors which can easily be filled or left and the hinges have been replaced on the internal doors. The painting inside the niche internally is distressed and its lost its detail. The stretcher on the stand has been strengthened and the base and the inside of the drawers have been painted black.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Daniel Alcouffe and others, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Vol. I, Dijon, 1993, pp 54-59.  
Agnès Bos, Meubles et panneaux en ébène, Le décor des cabinets en France au XVIIe siècle, Musée National de la Renaissance-Château d'Écouen, Catalogue, Paris, 2007,  pp. 61, figs. 24 and 25.
Monica Riccardi-Cubitt, The Art of the Cabinet, London, 1992.
Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide, Wolfram Koeppe and William Rieder, European Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Highlights of the Collection, New York, 2006, pp. 34-37, no. 11.
Christopher Wilk, Western Furniture 1350 to the Present Day, London, 1996, pp. 58-59.

This rare and impressive cabinet reflects the changing taste in the middle years of the 17th century for large sumptuous pieces for grand galleries and grand state apartments in royal and courtly interiors. It was not until the 17th century that France began to import exotic timbers from the Far East and South America and ebony was one of the first of these woods to be employed in cabinet-making, however, due to its rarity and cost it was almost exclusively used for veneering. French cabinetmakers who worked with ebony became known as menuisiers en ébène and later ébénistes. The carved and engraved ornament and ripple mouldings reflect the light on the glossy ebony surface.This form of cabinet on stand became, according to Wilk, op. cit., popular in French court circles in about 1640.
The subject-matter of these bas-relief carvings was inspired by prints with religious, mythological or literary subjects and naturalistic engraved motifs. According to Alcouffe, op. cit., p. 54, `These cabinets represent the synthesis of foreign (especially German) influences and traditions expressed in French Renaissance furniture'. Ebony cabinets of this type with their numerous interior drawers were used to contain jewellery, documents and personal items. Horace Walpole, on December 23rd 1779, revealed to his friend Anne Liddell, Countess of Upper Ossory how the Marquis de Sévigné had used her own cabinet, `You are to know Madam, that I have in my custody the individual ebony cabinet in which Madame de Sévigny kept her pens and paper for writing her matchless letters...'
The most celebrated exponent of these types of finely carved ebony cabinets was Jean Macé from Blois, who was granted a Royal warrant as Menuisier Ebéniste and leased accommodation in the Grande Galerie du Louvre,`because of the long practise he has acquired in this art (cabinet-making) in the Low Countries and the proof of excellence he provided in the various pieces veneered in ebony and other coloured woods…’. He has been credited with many important cabinets including The Endymion Cabinet in the Victoria and Albert Museum, with carved decoration from the story of Diana and Endymion and the Wolsey Cabinet in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. They are both veneered and sumptuously carved in ebony depicting scenes from L’Endymion a novel published in 1624 by Jean Ogier Gonbauld. There is another cabinet in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam decorated with scenes from the Old Testament. As Riccardi-Cubitt states op. cit., `The use of shiny dark wood emphasizes the severity of the rigid architectural forms while the interiors are marvels of richness and virtuosity in the Flemish manner, revealing secret drawers and perspectives'. 'Royal patronage was emulated by aristocratic and bourgeois clients. When Molière passed away in 1673, the inventory of his effects included `an ebony cabinet with two doors with a key inside twelve drawers with eight turned columns‘. The largest collection in France was that of Cardinal Mazarin and on his return to Paris in 1653, his inventory listed twenty-one cabinets, seventeen of which were in ebony.
The scenes on the doors on this cabinet depict Old Testament Biblical scenes of  `Isaac blessing Jacob' and `Esau sells his birthright to Jacob'. Bos, op. cit., p. 58, plates 24 and 25, illustrates two carved ebony panels depicting very similar scenes which are in the Musée National de la Renaissance-Château d'Écouen, which are in turn, based upon engravings from Figures de la Saincte Bible, engravings on wood after Drawings by Jean Ciusin, issued by Jean le Clerc, Paris, 1614, illustrated op. cit., on p. 61, figs 24 and 25, one of which is reproduced here in fig. 1.
It is also worthwhile considering another much more ornate ebony cabinet on stand, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by Kisluk-Grosheide, op. cit., p. 34-36, (31.66a, b), which also depicts Biblical scenes from the Old Testament some of which are  based upon  woodcut illustrations from Figures historiques du Vieux Testament first published in 1596 and the second edition was issued in 1614 by Jean Le Clerc, in Paris.
A related Louis XIII cabinet  with similar octagonal panels on the doors and engraved  with scrolling foliage and flowers including tulips was sold Sotheby’s Paris, 17^th December 2002, lot 8. Another cabinet  with similar engraving was offered for sale Christie’s, Amsterdam, 15^th December 2004, lot 221.