the richly decorated doors, enclosing a series of parcel gilt and lacquered drawers, raised on cabriole legs. A similar cabinet adorns the drawing room of Stradbally Hall, Stradbally, Co. Laois, Ireland. Lacquered or Japanned furniture was a style that was in stark contrast to the heavy dark pieces that characterised the earlier English Interregnum period. Carloean or late seventeenth-century and eighteenth-century furniture offered a colourful blend of sumptuous silks, tapestries, cabinets veneered with walnut and lacquer ware. The effect of these new furnishings created an extravagant look to satisfy the demand for fashionable objects influenced mainly by the French Court. Rich colourful pieces such as this example would have been very expensive and consequently owned by the very few.