Dr Jenny Saunt has generously offered FHS members a special visit to view the William Chambers medal cabinet, a major new loan to the British Galleries at the V&A, during which she will show the cabinet open.

One of the finest examples of surviving large-scale neo-classical architect-designed furniture in existence and an example of the highest status cabinet-making of its time, in terms of design, material, construction and technique, the cabinet was commissioned by James Caulfield, first Earl of Charlemont, as part of the building of Charlemont House in Dublin in the 1760s.

This cabinet has been cared for, displayed, researched and conserved by the Courtauld Gallery since its acquisition in 1986. Now, thanks to a generous loan by the Samuel Courtauld Trust, the medal cabinet and its associated design drawings will take their place in the chronology of the V&A’s British Galleries, becoming available to a whole new generation of museum visitors.

An article about the re-display, entitled ‘Cabinet Reshuffle’, is included in the November issue of the FHS Newsletter. Dr Saunt is Senior Curator in the Furniture and Woodwork Department of Performance, Furniture, Textiles and Fashion at the V&A.

This visit is now full.

Left: Medal cabinet for Charlemont House, c. 1767, © Courtauld  |  Right: Bookcase made for The Library at Croome Court, c. 1763, © The Victoria and Albert Museum