Herter Brothers Painted and Gilded Display Cabinet (c. 1883)
A Herter Brothers maple cabinet from about 1883 with a painted and gilded finish, bevelled glass doors and open display shelves set into an architectural, pagoda-like frame.
This cabinet mixes closed storage, glazed doors and open shelving in one composition, which is why it is useful to anyone planning a display wall or china cabinet. Herter Brothers built it in maple, then painted and gilded the surface and lined the interior with silk velvet so collected objects would glow against a deep ground. The upper section steps back like a small building, with slender turned supports and a shaped cornice; the lower doors are flat panels with delicate gilt borders. It is a good example of how late-Victorian makers layered materials rather than relying on heavy carving. A modern version could keep the stepped silhouette and contrasting interior color while using a durable painted finish and LED-lit shelves.
Paint-grade maple or poplar frame, CNC-shaped cornice and brackets, glass-panel doors and a painted or fabric-lined interior; gilding can be replaced with metallic paint or leaf on the moulding edges.
A custom version typically runs $125–$220 per sq ft, shipped finished.
- Style
- Victorian (Queen Anne, Eastlake)
- Element
- Cabinet Doors & Fronts
- Date
- ca. 1883
- Maker or designer
- Herter Brothers
- Materials
- Maple, with painted and gilded surface, bevelled glass, silk velvet, brass
- Dimensions
- 64 1/2 x 71 x 14 1/2 in. (163.8 x 180.3 x 36.8 cm)
- Source
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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