A Queen Anne scarlet and gilt-japanned bureau-bookcase, the double domed cornice mounted silvered finials above two bevelled mirrored doors opening to reveal a fitted interior of drawers, shelves and a central cupboard, above candle slides and the bureau fitted with further drawers, pigeon holes, pilasters enclosing secret compartments and an eighteenth-century blue silk writing surface, above two short and two long drawers, standing on bun feet, the whole magnificently decorated with japanned detail depicting landscape scenes of Chinese figures and pavilions amidst foliage, flowers and birds
The courts and nobility of Europe had long been fascinated by the exoticism and mystery of the Orient. The huge growth in trade through the East India Company in the late seventeenth century stimulated interest and demand further. Especially popular and a subject of great interest was ‘chinoiserie’.
Along with silks and porcelain that were imported at this time were lacquer screens and cabinets, and these pieces were highly sought after by society, and so of particular interest to the cabinet-makers in England, who created similar examples using technique of japanning.
Japanning was popularised further by the publication of 'A Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing' by John Stalker & George Parker, which describes in detail the process of japanning. This publication remains a key reference book for the technique even today.
Huge growth in the Dutch East India Company, known in Dutch as Vereenidge Oost-indische Compagnie or VOC, helped fuel a booming trade from China and Japan during the early and mid-part of the 18th century. This cabinet was made around 1715-1720, and interestingly it was at this time that the share price of the VOC reached an all-time high of around 642 guilders.