The cabinet was one of the most characteristic pieces of Western European furniture from the 16th century onwards. Numerous drawers, including secret ones, were intended for the storage of documents, money and valuables. The cabinet, produced by Flemish craftsmen in the second half of the 17th century, is stylistically exquisite and austere. It was finished with ebony and other wood painted in imitation of ebony, tortoiseshell and gilded bronze fittings from the late 17th or early 18th century. They reflect the then-fashionable marine theme: mascarons, figures of dolphins and Nereids, depictions of Neptune, the god of the sea, and Minerva, the goddess of wisdom.