Medal cabinet

John Cobb|William Vile

1760–61 · Mahogany with carved and applied decoration · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This medal cabinet, with 135 shallow drawers that can accommodate more than six thousand coins and medals, is one of two cabinets that probably formed the end sections of a larger piece of furniture, called His Majesty's Grand Medal Case. (Its mate is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.) The pair appears to have been commissioned by the future George III; the door of the top section is carved with the star of the Order of the Garter, to which the Prince of Wales had been elected in 1750. Originally the cabinets rested on open stands. William Vile made alterations to both cabinets, the most extensive of which was the filling in of the space between the legs.

Artist

John Cobb|William Vile

Date

1760–61

Medium

Mahogany with carved and applied decoration

Culture

British

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Fletcher Fund, 1964