Cabinet Bookcase

Date: 1800 - 1805

The pointed arches of the doors on this bookcase imitate the tracery in the windows of Gothic architecture. The doors feature exquisite gilded colonettes, or small columns, that support the arches. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, this style was common in bookcase doors. Here these Gothic elements are applied to a form whose balanced proportions embody the ideals of ancient Greek art. So, this small bookcase is quite eclectic. English landowner Lord Camoys commissioned it for Stonor Park, his family’s seat outside London, in the early 1800s.