The Global Renaissance and the impact of the ebony trade

At more than seven feet tall on a stand in the Lopata Gallery 124, this ebony cabinet commands attention. The scenes carved on the large exterior doors depict ancient stories of the nymph Callisto from the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses. An abundance of carved cherubs, fruit, human figures, and swags of flowers adorn the drawers, interiors of the doors, and panels in a boisterous manner, while gilded mounts inside contrast with the somber grandeur of the carved ebony wood. Inside the cabinet a central pair of doors opens to reveal an unexpected delight—a miniature theatrical scene decorated in ivory, rosewood, mirrors, and other treasured materials. This central compartment, called a caisson, uses false perspective and reflections to create the illusion that the space is larger than it is.

When this cabinet was made around 1640–1660, toward the end of the Renaissance in France, ebony only grew in tropical regions and had to be imported from distant places like Madagascar. The significant effort required to harvest and then transport this dense, black hardwood across the ocean to Europe made it highly expensive. During this period ebony was primarily used in northern Europe, since merchants from the Netherlands traded with countries where ebony was produced.[1] The Dutch East India Company (Vereeinigde Oostindische Compagnie) was the largest of these Dutch merchants and had a monopoly on trade with Asia from 1602 until 1799.

The wood’s rarity and expense explain why the ebony is laid on the front of the cabinet as a thin covering, or veneer, while oak or pine form the structure. Veneering was initially a decorative technique used by craftsmen in the Netherlands for a variety of costly materials, including ebony and ivory, in order to use the resource without wasting it or increasing the cost of production.[2] Greater access to this wood, combined with veneering, led to the Dutch stylistic choice of using ebony across the entire surface of the furniture they made rather than for smaller decorative elements. The caisson was made using a technique called marquetry, which involves shaping Individual pieces of thin wood veneers to fit together to create ornamental patterns or pictorial scenes. Each of the materials used in this cabinet—from the ebony on the exterior to the ivory inside, and even the gilded mounts—speak to luxury and extravagant display.

This exhibition of wealth was intentional because cabinets like this one were primarily commissioned by the elite of European society. Creating this cabinet would have required a significant amount of labor, skill, and resources. As such, only the very rich could afford to purchase such an impressive object. Although the design of this type of large cabinet was Dutch or Germanic in origin, this piece was actually made for the French elite.[3] During his reign Henry IV of France (1553–1610) encouraged Flemish and German furniture makers to settle in Paris and established quarters in the Louvre Palace called menuisiers en ébène.[4] His furniture makers lived and worked in this part of the Louvre, and furniture craftsmen in France were later referred to as ébénistes.[5] As a result of this intentionally cultivated style, in the early 17th century many of these ebony cabinets were produced by craftsmen connected with the royal court of Louis XIII (1610–1643), Henry’s son and successor.

This cabinet demonstrates the Dutch influence on French visual culture as well as the more general changes in French furniture styles during this period. Toward the end of Louis XIII’s life, decoration became more refined and graceful, with a greater use of floral details and scrollwork.[6] This cabinet embodies these changes. The impressive size contrasts with the delicate and minute carvings across its surface.[7] The caisson, designed as a small theatrical stage, also foreshadows the drama of the Baroque period during the reign of Louis XIV (1638–1715). Besides creating furniture trends, cabinetmakers also took advantage of the printing revolution from the 16th century to decorate their work. Although every cabinet is unique, each example has carvings on its doors that generally depict stories from the Classical period, the Bible, or occasionally, literature.[8] These images were usually taken from printed engravings created by other artists. Cabinetmakers readily utilized these premade images and adapted them for their own uses. In this way, this type of furniture existed at the intersection of several new artistic developments and technologies.

Although highly decorative and demonstrating fashionable designs, these cabinets were still personal objects. The cabinet’s original owner likely chose the scenes carved into the doors, thereby expressing their individual interests and tastes. As functional furniture, the various compartments would have held important and precious items, while hidden drawers could keep other objects a secret. The caisson, with its dramatic, impressive scene and mirrors, could have been used to display small artworks. Although this cabinet, and others like it, was a valuable item in itself, it also housed and showcased the owner’s collection of art, known as a Kunstkammer.[9] Translated literally from German as “art room,” a Kunstkammer reflected an individual’s interest in scientific discoveries, natural wonders, and artistic masterpieces. These collections were also meant to be displayed for others—owning rare objects allowed the wealthy to demonstrate their knowledge of and ability to acquire expensive items. Europeans viewed these different subjects as interrelated and grouped objects together to understand and categorize their expanding world. As new inventions arose, such as clocks, and as global trade made goods from around the world more accessible, such artworks were eagerly purchased by collectors.

In many ways this cabinet reflects the international nature as well as the general ethos of the European Renaissance. Its precious materials point to the increasing importance of trade—ebony, rosewood, and ivory were all brought from various parts of the Americas, Africa, and Asia to major European cities, primarily through Dutch trade and shipping. Advances in science, art, and technology enabled the cabinet’s construction—the caisson with its various hidden drawers and deceptive perspective required new advancements in the understanding of optics and mathematics to create a realistic scene in miniature. The carvings on the doors speak to an individual well versed in literature, history, and fashionable tastes—all important areas of knowledge for Renaissance nobility.

Ovid’s Metamorphoses was primarily read by the wealthy, who could afford an education, while the decorative carvings reflect design styles from the period. These contrasts of miniature versus massive, scientific advancements versus artistic creation, and historical references versus fashionable decoration are all reflective of the society in which it was made—at once global, historical, scientific, and artistic.

Unfortunately, the cultures and trade networks that facilitated the creation of such beautiful objects also had a darker side, with a high human and environmental cost.

This enlarged global commercial network primarily resulted from the establishment of several different trading companies across Europe. For example, the Dutch West India Company (West-Indische Compagnie) was formed in the 17th-century Netherlands after the government consolidated multiple merchant businesses. Working primarily across the Atlantic Ocean, the Dutch West India Company set up posts along the west coast of Africa, northeast Brazil, the Caribbean, and in the New Netherland Colony (now the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut). Like the Dutch West India Company, the Dutch East India Company expanded its trade and harvesting of exotic woods like rosewood across the Indian Ocean, setting up outposts throughout Southeast Asia, southern and eastern Africa, and Japan. The Dutch East India Company became one of the largest businesses in the world and the earliest model of a corporate global supply chain. They traded in raw materials such as wood, precious jewels, and ivory as well as the enslavement of peoples across the world.

The international slave trade reaped significant profits for Dutch enslavers as well as other European traders and companies who supported and financially benefited from the enslavement of others. These ill-gotten gains directly filled the purses of the rich and helped pay for the creation of many of the decorative objects from this period. While more research has been dedicated to Dutch complicity in the Atlantic slave trade, the Dutch were also involved with slavery in the Pacific and operated a circuit of enslavement that included the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, Batavia in Southeast Asia, and Cochin in India. The slave trade played a role in carrying laborers to areas of economic expansion. These people, from both Africa and Asia, provided labor to produce luxury goods and materials consumed in Europe.[10] Over time these regions were bound increasingly together by this network of global trade and economic production.

The slave trade meant pain and degradation for survivors—including the cruelty of their subjugation and renaming—and the premature death of many who perished over the course of capture, transportation, and the brutal conditions under which they were enslaved. It also left generational trauma and devastation to those left behind who had to bear a different loss in the absence of the parents, children, brothers, and sisters who were carried away into slavery. The Dutch did not officially end the slave trade until 1863, and it would take many years for it to be fully dismantled. For example, enslaved individuals in Suriname were not fully emancipated until after 1873, when the mandatory transitional period of 10 years was recognized.[11] Slavery and colonization had grave consequences for the land and people affected by it, with ongoing ramifications in these areas today.

Dutch colonial extraction was not limited to human beings—the enterprise also caused great harm to nonhuman resources. The pursuit of precious materials, like those used to make this cabinet, wrought widespread environmental destruction.

Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600–1860, by Richard Grove explores the colonial impact this desire for luxury goods and expansion had on the environment. One of his case studies focuses on the Dutch involvement on the island of Mauritius. The Dutch landed in Mauritius on September 17, 1598, beginning their long engagement with the island. In 1638 settlers from the Dutch East India Company tried to colonize the island and set up an organized ebony business to sell the rare black wood. Colonizers brought livestock and introduced sugar cane plants and other nonnative crops. However, the Dutch left the island in 1710 due to issues with cyclones demolishing the settlement, rats consuming crops, settlers illegally trading with English merchants, and enslaved people revolting frequently. The impact on the land was profound—the decimation, and resulting extinction, of the dodo bird population as well as the destruction of large areas of the ebony forests forever changed the topography of the land. The demand for ebony increased, and the Dutch East India Company ultimately continued to destroy ecological areas throughout the world in order to supply the markets in Europe and compete against the expansion of English and Portuguese merchants.

Unfortunately, due to historic, unsustainable harvesting by Dutch merchants, many ebony species are now considered threatened and listed as vulnerable or endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Although different species of ebony can be found today across the globe in tropical areas, especially on the eastern African islands of Mauritius and Madagascar and in the western African nation of Gabon, only about 15–20 percent of trees produce high-quality ebony in large enough quantities to sustain commercial consumption.[12] Despite this small number of harvestable trees, ebony is cut down in large swaths irrespective of size. The threat of extinction affects not just ebony but also the well-being of the innumerable plants and animals with which it coexists. In most forests, there are 25 different species of ebony living in the same area, and each species flowers and produces fruit at different times of the year.[13] This continuous supply of food is essential to a variety of animals—ebony’s permanent loss would cause irreparable harm to its surrounding habitats.

In response to concerns about ebony’s survival, its ecological importance has been recognized through international laws that aim to promote conservation and prevent illegal exploitation. In the United States the Lacey Act of 1900 prohibited the importation of threatened wood, with later amendments that expanded the list of materials to include ebony, rosewood, and types of mahogany.[14]  International protections like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora—known as CITES—ensure that international trade in animals and plants, like ebony, does not threaten their survival in the wild.[15] Formally adopted on July 1, 1975, CITES today includes 185 countries, including the United States, Nigeria, India, and Guyana.

Along with these international laws, contemporary efforts help ensure that future generations will enjoy these natural resources. Here in St. Louis, the Missouri Botanical Garden has implemented several programs to help conserve ebony. Dr. Pete Lowry, director of the Africa and Madagascar Program, leads a variety of the garden’s projects. Lowry and his team have studied ebony in Madagascar extensively, and since 2008, they have identified 170 unique types, bringing the total number of recognized species to 255.[16] With funding from the Franklinia Foundation, the garden and its collaborators collected living samples of rosewood and ebony from forests located near the garden’s community-based conservation sites throughout Madagascar. The samples are grown in nurseries, and eventually, the plants are used in reforestation activities.[17] This ongoing work aids in the study and conservation of ebony and lays the foundation for a future Malagasy conservation program. Unfortunately, ebony continues to be exploited in an unsustainable and unregulated manner while the profits from this industry do not benefit the majority of the population. For now, the garden and Dr. Lowry continue their mission—fieldwork and discovery, naming and identification of species, training future generations of scientists, and helping to manage and conserve plant diversity throughout the world.

Ebony’s current uses and long history are complicated with different stories and perspectives connected to it. SLAM’s ebony cabinet tells many of these histories and is now on view in the recently reopened Lopata Gallery 124. In this space are a Renaissance-style Kunstkammer and other items with similar global connections, such as a container covered in iridescent pearl shells from Gujarat, India, and a Venetian glass bowl with rich enamel and gilded decoration. These artworks and others illustrate the global connections of the Renaissance and the desire for luxury materials.

The 15th through the 17th centuries were characterized by rapid global expansion along with technical and material innovation that brought the world closer together—but at great human and environmental costs. As testaments to these different histories, peoples, cultures, and consequences, these objects are important to remember and reflect upon today.

A special thank you to the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Nezka Pfeifer, museum curator of the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum, and Dr. Pete Lowry, director of the Africa and Madagascar Program, for giving their time and providing their expertise while writing this post.