A beautifully carved Italian Bambocci cabinet, 17th century with some later elements.  Bambocci cabinets originated in the Renaissance around 1560, in Northern Italy, with the last true examples crated in the first decade of the 17th century.  These are referred to as Stipo a babocci. More can be found about these on their page on Wikipedia.  Their distinctive style incorporates three dimensionally carved figures of male and female Renaissance figures and putti on each of the corners and across the top of the cabinet.  

This particular example appears to be 17th century with some later elements such as the small locks on the doors which appear to be Victorian, 19th century enhancements. When examining the drawers, none of these are dovetailed, as the process of dovetailing joints was created toward the end of the 17th century, and true bambocci cabinets are from the early part of the 17th century and before. The cabinet is made of walnut with burl panels on the front of the doors and drawers.

There is a small, hidden compartment behind the central door, although the panel seems to be somewhat fixed in place, and the method of opening is unknown. 

The cabinet is in overall good condition for its age, but there are cracks in the burl finish on the right side and on a number of the drawer panels.  There are no keys present for any of the small locks. There is damage from wood worms, as would be expected from a piece with this age, and can be seen clearly on the bottoms of the drawers and back of the cabinet, but this is old damage and there is no active infestation. The top cabinet sits on the base cabinet, which may or may not be of the same age.  The right bottom panel from the base cabinet is missing and the floor can be seen beneath that section. 

As these are fairly rare to come up for sale, three of these have been noted in auctions over the last few years.  One sold for $10,000, one for $7,500 and one for $6,500, two of which had no base cabinets.  These prices do not include the auction premiums of 20-25%. If details of these auctions are needed, they can be supplied. Please contact for additional information or photos.

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