Kas

ca. 1650

One of the most impressive furnishings in elite Dutch homes was the kas, a large storage cupboard. It is believed that this Baroque-style example was imported to New York in the seventeenth century, possibly by François Rombout (d. 1691). An immigrant from Hasselt (now in Belgium), Rombout became a successful merchant and served as mayor of New York in 1679. A plainer, American-made kas of circa 1750 on view in a neighboring gallery demonstrates the persistence of Dutch cultural forms long after the region came under English control.