the reverse with paper label with lot number, no. 1285, from the Hamilton Palace sale.

The Dukes of Hamilton, Hamilton Palace, Scotland, sold Christie, Manson & Woods,  July 1882, cat. no. 1285, p. 159
H. Samuels, acquired from the above

The present cabinet belonged to the Dukes of Hamilton whose magnificent collection was sold in a series of auctions between 1882 and 1919. Hamilton Palace in South Lanarkshire was acknowledged as having been one of the grandest houses in all of Scotland. In the middle of the 19th century, the collections included important French 18th century furniture and paintings by Rubens, Titian and van Dyke, much of which was inherited from the 10th Duke's father in law, William Beckford, the renown collector of the later 18th and 19th century.

Portable table cabinets such as this lot were made in Augsburg, Antwerp and Amsterdam throughout 🌳the 17th century. This piece is embellisheℱd with numerous enamel plaques colorfully painted with the tulip, whose introduction to the Netherlands at the end of the 16th century subsequently led to 'Tulipmania' and the launch of the commercial tulip industry in Holland.