JH Reference Library: Curio Cabinets
REVEALING WONDER
An antidote to the void of our time — studying 16th century Cabinet of Curiosities as a reminder of seeing delight and (re)discovery hidden in plain sight.
Ebonized Apothecary Cabinet, ca. 1617-18, Nicolaus I Kolb. Image c/o The Met.
Early 18th c. German Schrank with a traditional display of corals (Naturkundenmuseum, Berlin). Image c/o Wikipedia Commons.
The 16th century Italian Renaissance established a collectors paradise — from fine jewels and ostrich eggs to “unicorn” horns and pieces of coral, encyclopedic collections of natural and artificial objects alike were organized in complex, multi-compartmental cabinets…
…but also entire rooms, which were known as Wunderkammern (“wonders or miracles of the world”), or Cabinets of Curiosity (ARTSY)
From "Cabinet of Curiosities," Massimo Listri, pub. by Taschen.
The Empress Dowager Cixi, China, Qing Dynasty, 1903-04. Image c/o The Freer Gallery.
ex. Empress Cixi
Remember our previous Story on Empress Cixi’s defining luxuriances?
While not a categorical collection per se, a description of her jewelry room read like a sort of Wunderkammern: “This room was covered with shelves […] on which were placed 3,000 ebony boxes containing jewels…”
From pearl powder to chrysanthemum, jade hairpins and jeweled finger talons, Cixi’s royal collection defined the art objet.
Purpose
With early cabinets functioning as social status symbols, it was the aristocracy’s answer to discoverable opulence; a display case of "tangible tokens of intelligence, erudition, wealth, and taste.” [Sothby’s]
(The most impressive collections attracted visitors, sometimes royalty, from all over Europe).
A view of a Wunderkammer: David Teniers the Younger, The Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Painting Gallery in Brussels, 1651. Image c/o Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
Toilet set in original leather case, ca. 1743-45, German. Image c/o The Met.
While the cabinets were an attempt at establishing intellectual and social prestige, in spirit, they were not meant to be scientific—they were a place of the imagination in which those who could afford to do so, constructed their own personal versions of the world*
*Footnote: One’s propensity for gathering “rare” or original artifacts, and the means to do so, cannot be divorced from the rise of colonization, and often “collecting” items from cultures without context or homage to their cultural significance.
The internet may be our modern wunderkammer, but it lacks the wonder of a physical connection.
We’re considering the desirable qualities of a collectible object, the enchantment of discovery, and the meticulous focus of ordering and displaying objects within a confined space…
Silver box, ca. 15th c., France. Image c/o The Met.
More on all of this to come in a future series (hint hint), but for now — here’s what we’d display in our own personal JH Curio Cabinet: