A piece of furniture containing drawers, shelves, etc., for the safe keeping of china, medals, prints, papers and other articles of value. The cabinet originated in Italy where it was made in the sixteenth century, sometimes highly enriched with carving, painting, inlays of woods and semi-precious stones, and reached England by way of France. Many of the French cabinets of the seventeenth century were also exceedingly rich and beautiful, and some of the finest work of Boulle was lavished upon them. The cabinet has been made in an enormous variety of shapes and types, and many of them are of princely stateliness. Small cabinets with glass fronts, standing on spiral legs, were made in England towards the end of the Carolean period, and lacquer cabinets were imported from China and Japan either direct or through Holland, for which elaborately carved and gilded stands were made. In the Queen Anne period the cabinet developed and was provided with drawers underneath and sometimes a secretaire. The earlier cabinets often contained secret drawers. The mobile cabinet-bookcase was a development of early Georgian days.