Help identifying cabinet?

I've had this cabinet for a few years. It was handed down to me and nobody knows where it came from. It definitely looks handmade and very old. It has four doors and on each door there are paintings of different old torture methods.

 

How very odd. Makes me think of a prop someone might use in a magic show or circus. It is not something that was made for the general market. I kind of get an early 20th century Asian art deco vibe from this, though the artwork on the panels doesn't strike me as Asian in origin. I would expect this to have some fair value as a one of a kind curiosity. Would think the folks on the Oddities TV show would love this.

 

Ohhhh, I don't think a circus would want anything to do with that.......
unless it's the Circus from HELL !!

Oh...& that's not torture......that's out & out Murder !!!

 

Pardon my french but......f*** that's some gross s*** !

 

No dimensions? Need better overall pix of both sides unless you only wanted comments on the artwork. Seems like a rather graphic depiction of "the daily grind."

 

HOLY CAT PUPPIES!!!

 

I wasn't actually thinking circus with clowns, elephants, and acrobats. More like a circus of the macabre. Maybe something someone like Dr. Lao would own.

Another thought is that this is a curiosity cabinet. Meant to hold some bizarre collection related to torture and cannibalism. I could see this housing a shrunken head collection for example.

These images look vaguely familiar to me. I seem to recall some drawings done by early explorers depicting cannibals that were similar.

 

Frankly I like the really weird, as do many others.

If you are looking to sell I would mention the Memento Mori
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori

 

Sorry about that.......I was in a bad place yesterday ....thanks Mods !

 

Here are some 16th century engravings that depict similar things. Scroll down and there are several pages to look at. Warning .... graphic!

http://www.scalarchives.com/web/ric...erca_s=americae&SC_PROV=RR&SC_Lang=fra&Sort=9

 

Buddhist Hell

EDIT: Forgot to put in link
MatthewMeyer.net paintings, illustrations, and blog
Jigoku: Japanese Hell

Diyu, the Chinese version of Hell
http://kgorman.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/diyumid.jpg

 

lovely......can I book a weekend stay ?

 

As a matter of fact, you can!
Buddhist Hell Thailand Theme Park

 

So, now that we know what the painting on the cabinet depicts, maybe the furniture people can figure out what country it came from.

 

I see..... furniture people...

 

Heehee, King.

Okay, I tried to crop out the scary parts to look at the other parts of the design.

The scrolly designs in the corners. The flower-sunburst designs inside the "greek key" all around the edges.


And the color of the raw wood inside the cabinet:

 

@jessicalynnsteph

 

Sorry, I haven't checked this in a while. Do I need to take more pictures of the cabinet?

 

That would probably help. Step back and take a shot of the whole, entire cabinet. Good lighting is nice, too. And measurements.

Hopefully, you got the point that the art work depicts the different levels of the Buddhist envisionment of Hell. It might be some kind of a temple piece for storing religious texts or objects. (Just a guess)

Better, well lit pictures of the art work and other design elements, construction techniques, etc, can help people figure out which country it was made in.