A Monumental Carved Rosewood Cabinet, India, 19th Century

comprising three sections, the main body rising from a flat base on short round feet, with foliate carved borders and sections, the central square drawer featuring an openwork lockable door with dark and light blue enamelling in a vegetal design with birds, the sides open with lobed archways featuring elephant heads, above two lockable sections also with openwork enamel decoration to the front and sides, three drawers above with carved floral motifs, the upper section standing on ornately carved feet, featuring a lockable cabinet with two enamelled doors, the sides designed as balconies, crowned with a pyramidal dome carved with stylised cypress trees

In very good condition, the pyramidal top with some thin cracks in wood consistent with medium and age, the central drawer missing middle handle, reverse plain, as viewed.
"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."

This impressive rosewood cabinet belongs to the celebrated tradition of high-quality carved Indian furniture as it evolved after the arrival of the Portuguese, and other European colonisers, in the fifteenth/sixteenth century. Indian carpenters were commissioned by the Portuguese and then the Dutch, British and the French, to produce Western-style furniture, which took on a distinct local flavour with the use of indigenous materials and the development of local forms to create a new visual vocabulary that was appreciated by European collectors for its exotic aspect (Jaffer 2001, p.14).   

Produced in the nineteenth century, this cabinet is carved from rosewood, known in British India as blackwood because of its dark, almost black characteristics, with a lustre-full finish (Jaffer 2001, p.398). This cabinet displays a number of architectural qualities, notably in the designs of its smaller cabinets, covered with detailed enamelled screens in complex floral patterns. It also features a variety of arches and balconies, and is crowned with an impressive shikhara finial. The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London propagated the fashion for furniture made in British India and this cabinet would have been admired at that time for its intricate workmanship and delicate, yet monumental appearance (see Jaffer 2001, p.15, for an illustration of the Indian Court at the Great Exhibition in 1851 from the V&A picture library).