How many drawers do these cabinets have?

Anywhere from five to forty. Counts are stated far more often than dimensions, and they cluster at 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32 and 40. The small tabletop chests hold five to eight. Floor-standing entomological cabinets of thirty and forty sit at the very top of the range.

What wood are specimen cabinets made from?

Mahogany leads, named in 42 of 129 titles, with walnut second at 18. Oak, pine and stained deal follow. The upper listings bring in solid Cuban and Honduras mahogany, burr walnut, English walnut, pollard oak and satinwood. Stained pine and stained deal turn up on the plainer working chests.

Do any come with the specimens still inside?

Some do. One cabinet was full of mineral specimens, another complete with butterflies and beetles, and a microscope slide cabinet came with 280 slides. A French mineral and fossil collection arrived with its cabinet. Cabinets sold with their contents all fall in the upper half of the range.

Are microscope slide cabinets part of this category?

Yes, as a small but consistent thread. Slide cabinets of 15, 28 and 30 drawers appear, along with a pair in walnut. They're built the same way as the natural-history cabinets: shallow drawers of matched depth in a compact case.

How old are they, typically?

The dated listings run from 1800 to 1930. Where decades are given they bunch in the 1880s, 1890s and 1900s, with the 1850s to 1870s and the 1920s behind. Much of the dating is broad. Twenty-two listings say only "Victorian" and thirteen only "19th Century". A few titles reach back to the Georgian period, and one cabinet is dated to July 1827.

Why do pairs get singled out?

Pairs appear in 10 of the 129 titles, and they've become more common among cabinets currently listed than in the archive behind them. Pairs of 12- and 16-drawer cabinets, slide cabinets and ornithological cabinets have all come up on Sellingantiques. Every pair sits in the upper half of the range.

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Antique Specimen Cabinets

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A specimen cabinet is a case of shallow, close-fitting drawers built to store and show a collection: insects, birds' eggs, minerals, shells, microscope slides, medals.