MEKEREN, Jan van - b. 1658 Tiel, d. 1733 Amsterdam

Dutch cabinetmaker. He is particularly associated with spectacular floral-marquetry cabinets. His Amsterdam workshops also produced such other furniture in the Baroque style as tables and guéridons (small, often circular centre table supported by one or more columns, or sculptural human, or mythological figures) en suite with the cabinets. The marquetry designs, derived from Dutch still-life paintings, achieved brilliant trompe l’oeil effects through the use of various coloured veneers. His work ranks among the most illustrious of the period; compared with that of his contemporary André Charles Boulle, however, van Mekeren’s style is freer and less disciplined. The marquetry decoration, for example, often extends down the legs and over the cornices. The value of his estate indicates that commercially his business was highly successful. Nine cabinets can be attributed to him, the most impressive of which is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Cabinet

This large two-doored cabinet-on-stand is a typically Dutch piece of furniture. Cabinets of this type have a simple interior with just a few shelves and a couple of drawers. They were generally used to store household linen. Van Mekeren’s cabinet is simple in form, so that all the attention is focused on the superb floral marquetry decoration. The oak cabinet has been entirely covered with various kinds of woods (kingwood, ebony, rosewood, olive, sycamore and others), which the cabinetmaker used to create still-lifes of vases overflowing with flowers of all kinds. The sophisticated composition of the inlaid work was inspired by French examples and is reminiscent of the work of the Parisian cabinetmaker Andr�-Charles Boulle.