Collector’s cabinet with miniature apothecary, anonymous, 1730
oak and pine, veneered with olivewood and other woods, tortoiseshell, ivory, gilt brass and other materials, h 206.8cm × w 96.5cm × d 74.0cm More details
The cabinet houses many small pots and bottles containing simplicia, or medicinal ingredients. Several drawers are filled with minerals, fossils, wood samples, seeds and so forth. Many other drawers are empty. The cabinet may originally have contained a ‘universal collection’, which included small artefacts as well as products of nature, probably assembled by a cultivated and prosperous gentleman.
