A CHINESE EXPORT PARCEL-GILT, POLYCHROME-PAINTED AND EBONIZED MAHOGANY CABINET-ON-STAND

This exotic Chinese export cabinet was in the collection of the renowned British Army officer and colonial administrator, Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850-1916) at his mansion Broome Park, Kent, which he purchased in 1911 and spent five years renovating (‘Accounts and correspondence mainly concerning purchase and furnishing of Broome Park’, TNA, Kew, 30/57/100). ‘Lord Kitchener of Khartoum’ was a symbol of World War One, immortalised on the famous poster calling for volunteers, and an avid collector of works of art, in particular Chinese wares. By tradition, this cabinet was placed in a Chinese room at Broome Park, and almost certainly surrounded by oriental porcelain.