Cabinets with rich marquetry inlay were extremely popular during the C16. In this example from Basle, a cabinet entirely plain on the outside, the luxury is limited to the inside and reserved to the owner when handling the objects of his collection. The owner is known: he was the Basle cloth merchant Andreas Ryff, whose initials AR with the date 1592 are inlaid on the rear of the upper part of the cabinet, and on the inside of the dropfront shown here the combined coats of arms of the Ryff and Brunner families appear in the central ring of foliage. Von Ryff's collection - he was involved in excavations at Augst - is unfortunately not preserved. There is evidence for his particular knowledge of music from early youth and the instruments portrayed in the marquetry are a further reflection of his ownership, even though musical instruments were a common subject of still lifes in general. Nine instruments and various other utensils are represented: transverse flute, eye glasses, cornet, case for the flute, harp, lute, trumpet, score, viola da gamba, transverse flute, drum and recorder.