The hallmark of Herter Brothers furniture is the precise orchestration and controlled interplay of form, texture, and scale to achieve an impressive whole. As the leading decorating firm in the United States during the Gilded Age, the New York-based Herter Brothers’ prestigious clients ranged from two American presidents to many a robber baron coast to coast. The cabinet’s provenance has been traced to the powerful Vanderbilt family of New York. Most case pieces now in the BMA once held books or textiles, but this cabinet, carved and inlaid with elaborate marquetry in various exotic woods, was created to store and display works of art. Although the museum’s thousands of works on paper would never fit into our beautiful cabinet, we exhibit selected pieces on the cabinet’s matching easel, offering a changing glimpse of the museum’s comprehensive holdings.