Originally, the cabinet was a small chest of drawers used for keeping various documents and valuables, which would be placed on a table or a dais. It was in the 17th century in particular that this piece of furniture started to gain its own autonomous status, with the construction of a stand of a similar size and decoration to the cabinet itself.

Being made mainly of of Brazilian rosewood, cabinets gradually took on some peculiarly Portuguese features that distinguished them from their European counterparts. The use of tremidos (turned and trembling) in the decoration of the drawers, with apparently identical fronts, the increasingly sculptural treatment given to the apron, the turning of the legs and, particularly in the second half of the century, the contrast between the dark wood of the furniture and the bright shine of the gilt mounts marked the beginning of what came to be known as the “national style”.