How many drawers do these cabinets usually have?

Counts in the archive run from five to seventy-two, and twelve and twenty drawer cabinets recur more than any others. The title almost always leads with the number, so it is the first thing you read. Six- and eight-drawer table-top cabinets sit at one end, floor-standing banks of forty, fifty-six, sixty and seventy-two at the other.

What were collectors cabinets made to hold?

Insects above all: entomological is the commonest stated purpose among named specimen cabinets. Eggs, coins, medals, microscope slides and minerals follow. The stated uses read like a survey of Victorian collecting. Oological, geological, fossil, shell, butterfly, moth and jewellery cabinets all appear by name in the titles.

Which timbers turn up most?

Mahogany, in 258 titles, with solid mahogany named in 25 and Honduras mahogany in 16. Stained and polished deal is the other constant, in 24 titles, frequently with mahogany drawer fronts on a softwood carcase. Burr walnut, figured veneers, amboyna and satinwood appear at the upper end of the range.

Are collectors cabinets a common find?

Around 43 are listed a year on Sellingantiques, and 124 different dealers have handled one. That spread means it is a form almost every furniture dealer meets sooner or later rather than a specialism.

Do cabinets ever come with the collection inside?

Occasionally. Sampled titles record cabinets sold with two hundred tropical insects, a collection of British moths, and fossils, butterflies and beetles. One case came with 280 microscope slides. Cabinets still holding their contents sit higher in the range than empty ones.

Can you find matching pairs?

Yes, more often than you might expect. Nineteen titles offer a pair. Among them are matched pairs of sixteen-drawer and twelve-drawer specimen cabinets.

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Antique Collectors Cabinets

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A chest of shallow, close-fitting drawers, built to hold specimens - insects, eggs, coins, medals, minerals, microscope slides - with the drawer count stated first in the title.