Y A VICTORIAN EBONY AND IVORY INLAID MUSIC CABINET ATTRIBUTED TO OWEN JONES, CIRCA 1865 The central section with five long vertical divisions for music folios, above a fall-front opening to shelves for sheet music, the shelves with tooled leather edges for Operas, Miscellaneous, Sacred 112cm high, 108cm wide, 44.5cm deep Jackson and Graham were one of the leading Victorian cabinet makers of the second half of the nineteenth century and were probably the most important. Their work was of the highest quality, showcasing the most innovative designers of the day and winning many prizes at international exhibitions. Owen Jones and B.J. Talbert designed for the Paris Exhibitions of 1867 and 1878, Jones for the Vienna Exhibition of 1873. Designers at the firm included Alfred Lorimer and Eugene Prinot, Jackson and Graham also made designs by R.W. Edis, C.L. Eastlake and Talbert. Special commissions were undertaken for Queen Victoria, Napoleon III, the Grand Khedive at Cairo and the Royal Palace in Siam. Owen Jones was highly influential in his promotion of formal, stylised pattern, in direct opposition to the popular taste for the flamboyantly naturalistic. Jones also designed entire interiors for important clients, including the connoisseur Alfred Morrison, both at Fonthill and Carlton House Terrace. Amongst Jones's designs for Fonthill was a well documented semi-circular display cabinet in ebony inlaid with ivory for the display of Morrison's collection of Chinese porcelain. The lower door panels of the cabinet all incorporate Morrison's initials in a central ivory inlaid monogram. Jones was also responsible for the decoration and furnishings at The Priory, 21 North Bank, Regent's Park in 1863 for the novelist George Eliot and partner G.H. Lewes. The ivory inlaid monogram incorporating two 'G's to the panel of the present music cabinet bears distinct similarities to the monogram inlaid panels of the display cabinet at Fonthill. It is tempting to speculate that Owen Jones may have designed the present cabinet for George Eliot and G.H.Lewes as part of the new decorative scheme for The Priory, incorporating their first initials in the monogram.