The Descartes Cabinet is named in honour of René Descartes 1596 – 1650, the French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. Credited as the father of The Enlightenment, Descartes' rigorous philosophical and scientific methodologies acted as inspiration for the European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism. Fundamental to Western philosophy Descartes statement Cogito Ergo Sum (“I think; therefore I am”) is imprinted on the cabinet.

Freed from any adornment the cabinet is a celebration of a single, sinuous flowing curve, laid bare and rendered in physical form. One thought, one idea, rigorously pursed and refined to perfection, stripped to the essential, leaving only what is absolute. The marks arrayed on the cabinet light up like stars and celestial objects in the night sky whilst the interior glows like the rising sun; the beauty of the mathematical form of the cabinet in symphony with the beauty of the materials echoing the beauty of the universe. 

Inspired by the ancient Chinese technique of gilt splashed bronze the Descartes Cabinet bronze doors are patinated a rich black and marked with bright White Gold splashes. The cabinets frame is made from hand finished Aluminium and marked with black Oxidised Silver splashes. Each mark made on the cabinet is unique and bears the literal fingerprint of the artist’s hand. The interior of the cabinet is hand polished Aluminium worked to a glowing mirror like finish.

The Descartes Cabinet is handmade in the UK by master craftsmen using both ancient and contemporary materials and technologies. 

Photographs Courtesy of Thomas Joseph Wright PenguinsEgg Ltd for Gallery FUMI