While the client for the cabinet is unknown, the quality of its design, materials and workmanship suggest that it must have been made for someone in the circle of Emperor Napoleon – possibly Napoleon himself. The attribution of the cabinet is the subject of ongoing research, but the lockplate is signed by Martin-Guillaume Biennais, the greatest goldsmith of the Napoleonic period, and it is likely that the cabinet was made entirely in or for Biennais's workshop. The upper section of the cabinet is based on a drawing of a ruined Egyptian temple pylon by the French artist Dominique-Vivant Denon, while a second drawing by the architect Charles Percier is marked 'for Biennais'. As well as its unrivalled craftsmanship, the cabinet holds some ingenious secrets. To open the cabinet, the user first has to press the eye of one of the cobras on the face, revealing a keyhole. After unlocking the door, the cabinet opens to reveal 41 narrow drawers, individually decorated with a silver scarab-like design. Each drawer is opened by lifting the right wing of its scarab, allowing the drawer to slide open.

Artists include

• Dominique Vivant Denon
• Charles Percier

Provenance

Believed to have been acquired for Gatton Park, Surrey, 1830s; Burton Hall,1888, Lincolnshire; South Carlton,1958; sold at SothebyÂ’s, 2013. An Art Loss Register search has been carried out.