Herman Doomer

This was a new type of furniture maker who specialized in furniture veneered with ebony and other hard woods. These new materials were difficult to work and placed high demands on the maker. Ebony was imported by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) from Southeast Asia and brought back to the Netherlands. This meant that ebony was fairly easy to obtain in Amsterdam. He decorated his works with exquisite carvings and inlay work with mother-of-pearl. He is also well known for his decorations pressed into blackened whalebone which was used to imitate ebony. Cabinets of this kind were true showpieces in 17th century households. In addition to furniture, Doomer focused on frame making and it is possible he supplied frames to Rembrandt.