I have a soft spot for the pieces that are not trying to be the star of the parlor. The Metropolitan Museum has a little oak hanging key cabinet by Kimbel & Cabus that does exactly that. It is only 41 3/4 inches tall and 5 1/2 inches deep, but it has enough Gothic ambition for a full sideboard. The Met catalogs it as a work by Kimbel & Cabus; the firm is listed as American, New York, 1863–1882, and the object is dated about 1874. You can see the record here.
The form is the fun. Instead of a massive case piece, it is a narrow wall cabinet with turned side posts, pointed finials, a steep little crest, carved scrollwork above and below the door, and a broad metal strapwork design across the center panel. It was made to hold keys. That is what delights me: nobody needed to put this much architecture around a set of keys.
No sale price to report — this one lives at the Met — but the attribution lesson is worth saving. Kimbel & Cabus are easy to picture through the showier Modern Gothic desks and Aesthetic side chairs. This small cabinet gives us another comparison point: vertical, architectural, a little severe, but still playful, and applied to a practical household form. If one of these wall-hung cases turns up in a sale, do not let the size fool you. The details are a reason to look closer.
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