A curio cabinet is a skilfully designed cabinet with a lot of drawers and (hidden) compartments. A perfect repository for small treasures, such as old coins, fossils or jewellery. These specially designed cabinets were often made of costly varieties of wood.
Drawers decorated with paintings
In the seventeenth century, Antwerp became the most important international centre for this type of cabinet. The city's craftsmen specialised in cabinets with drawers that had been decorated with paintings. This stunning cabinet in the Rubens House is exuberantly decorated with mythological scenes, after compositions by Rubens. A smaller and simpler cabinet is decorated with allegories of love. These were inspired by a popular emblem book by Rubens's teacher, Otto van Veen.
