Qianlong Period. Circa 1765. The present lacquer cabinets, raised on their original stands, are externally decorated with unusually bold figures in a landscape, and open to reveal further imagery with painted figures incorporated into an architectural balconied interior. While the doors of one cabinet unfold to portray a magical vision of the Orient, unlocking the secret panels of the other cabinet reveal intensely erotic scenes set within a beautiful garden. The exotic and highly unusual charm of these cabinets would have appealed to Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne (1735-1814), since it was he who doubtless acquired them for the Chateau de Beloeil. Charles Joseph de Ligne was born in January 1735, heir to this princely family from Hainaut, a flat and fertile province forty miles southwest of Brussels. He was a close friend of the infamous Cassanova and was known to be a charmer of the age, seducing many, including Madame du Barry and Madame de Staël.

English. Circa 1795. The design of the present pair of bookcases reveals the understated influence of French neoclassicism in England during the late 18th century. This manner of design is most strongly associated with the designer and architect Henry Holland (1745-1806), among whose most celebrated works were Carlton House for the Prince Regent, later George IV, and Southill Park in Bedfordshire. The bookcases can be associated with Holland through comparison with the furniture of Southill, strongly attributed to the architect. The curious shaped feet to the rear of the bookcases are a distinctive feature, a variation of which is found on a pair of rosewood commodes of French form, which stand in Mrs. Whitbread’s room at Southill. The metalwork of the bookcases is also strongly in the Holland style. The crossed grills to the side of the bookcases are repeated to the sides of a raised stand on a rosewood pier table in the drawing room at Southill.

This distinctive and highly unusual table houses a remarkable collection of semiprecious hardstones and marbles, each set in a silver frame and, interestingly, inscribed on the reverse with its Latin name, which signifies that the stones constituted a geological collection. Tabletops inlaid with mineral collections brought back from the Grand Tour in Italy were highly desired in fashionable circles during this period, though their compositions lacked the inventiveness and artistry of the present table. The table also bears an inlaid armorial with the mantle and coronet of either a Prince of Russia or a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, very similar to a pair of armorials on a music cabinet from Schwarzenau Castle in Austria. While the table was clearly intended for a European aristocratic household, its sculptural appearance, dark gold lacquer on the mounts, and brass inlay on the legs all indicate that it was made in an English workshop.