Kimbel and Cabus (1863–1882). Cabinet-Secretary, ca. 1875. Painted cherry, copper, brass, gilding, leather, earthenware, 60 × 35 × 14 in. (152.4 × 88.9 × 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1991.126. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Gavin Ashworth, 1991.126_GavinAshworth.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863–1882). Cabinet-Secretary, ca. 1875. Painted cherry, copper, brass, gilding, leather, earthenware, 60 × 35 × 14 in. (152.4 × 88.9 × 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1991.126. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Gavin Ashworth, 1991.126_GavinAshworth_detail_1.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863–1882). Cabinet-Secretary, ca. 1875. Painted cherry, copper, brass, gilding, leather, earthenware, 60 × 35 × 14 in. (152.4 × 88.9 × 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1991.126. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Gavin Ashworth, 1991.126_GavinAshworth_detail_2.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863–1882). Cabinet-Secretary, ca. 1875. Painted cherry, copper, brass, gilding, leather, earthenware, 60 × 35 × 14 in. (152.4 × 88.9 × 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1991.126. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Gavin Ashworth, 1991.126_GavinAshworth_detail_3.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863–1882). Cabinet-Secretary, ca. 1875. Painted cherry, copper, brass, gilding, leather, earthenware, 60 × 35 × 14 in. (152.4 × 88.9 × 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1991.126. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1991.126_interior_bw_IMLS.jpg)
Cabinet-Secretary
Decorative Arts and Design
On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Radical Care
The Brooklyn Museum is commemorating its 200th anniversary by spotlighting 200 standout objects in its encyclopedic collection.
In 1863 immigrant designers Antonin Kimbel (German) and Joseph Cabus (French) founded their New York–based furniture and decorating firm, Kimbel and Cabus, to outfit the homes of the city’s wealthy middle class. Working in the Modern Gothic style, they combined features of medieval architecture and design with rich surface decoration and bold, clean lines.
This secretary-cabinet is Kimbel and Cabus’s most developed Modern Gothic work and one of the rare examples of this style in the Brooklyn Museum collection. While functional, it was also intended for ostentatious display. Its rectilinear shape and gothic elements create a powerful presence that belies the desk’s relatively small dimensions. The two-legged winged dragon with a shield, or wyvern, is a symbol of valor and protection. Along with medieval references, Kimbel and Cabus broadly appropriated the forms of Asian arts and crafts: here, they used ebonizing, a process of blackening the surface of wood, to imitate Asian lacquer. Finally, they incorporated colorful ceramic French tiles of Islamic inspiration on the bottom doors.
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Gallery Label
In 1863 immigrant designers Antonin Kimbel (German) and Joseph Cabus (French) founded their New York–based furniture and decorating firm, Kimbel and Cabus, to outfit the homes of the city’s wealthy middle class. Working in the Modern Gothic style, they incorporated features of medieval architecture and design, such as the peaked gable, pointed-arched shelves, oversized hinges, and abstract linear patterns seen on this cabinet. The designers were noted for their innovation, combining historical elements with bold, clean lines, and rich surface decoration. They also broadly appropriated advances and techniques in Asian arts and crafts forms. Here, they used ebonizing, a process of blackening the surface of wood to imitate Asian lacquer.
