Nelson Guftason Cabinet
New York, circa 1873–1875
This elaborate cabinet is attributed to Nelson Gustafson, a New York cabinetmaker active during the 1870s. Although relatively little is known about Gustafson himself, surviving examples of his work demonstrate the sophisticated craftsmanship and rich ornamentation associated with New York cabinetmaking during the Gilded Age.
The cabinet belongs to a type sometimes described in the period as a “French cabinet.”
The “French Cabinet”
Such pieces combined architectural form with highly decorative materials and were intended as much for display as for storage. Fine woods—including mahogany, rosewood, and other exotic woods—were complemented by porcelain and bronze ornament.
Cabinets of this type occupied prominent positions in fashionable interiors, where their shelves and compartments could be used to display clocks, sculpture, ceramics, and other prized possessions. The cabinet itself therefore became part of the display: an expression of craftsmanship, fashionable taste, and the increasingly elaborate domestic interiors of the 1870s.