Kimbel & Cabus Cabinet

Known from a period photograph in the furniture maker’s original catalogue at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and similar to an example now at the Victoria & Albert Museum, this cabinet was made by the Brooklyn furniture makers Kimbel & Cabus. Inspired by English Modern Gothic precedents, the handsome form features incised carving, elaborately decorated cast hardware and its original art tile plaque.

Markings: On reverse of original mirror: “D. Durand / French Plate Looking Glass / Importer & Manufacturer / ___ to ____ W. ____th St. New York / May 2, 1877”.

Literature/Provenance: Refer to Period Photographic catalogues (c. 1875) in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, (www.silsi.edu/imagegalazy, photo #ID:SIL-012-4-0015). Also see Bolger, Doreen, Jonathan Freedman, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, et al, In Pursuit of Beauty: Americans and the Aesthetic Movement. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Rizzoli, 1986, p. 1565 and p. 446; and also Hanks, David, “Kimbel & Cabus: 19th Century New York Cabinetmakers.” New York: Art & Antiques, September-October 1980, pp. 44-53, for a discussion of Kimbel & Cabus’ work.