Collections of curiosities naturally had to be kept somewhere; hence the proliferation of special cabinets and boxes in the second half of the 16th century. For all their many drawers and compartments, these were never purely functional, however. They were artfully made showpieces in their own right, whose elaborate exteriors and ingenious interiors – often with secret compartments – were sure to arouse curiosity. Some of the cabinets displayed here were imported from Augsburg, which in those days was a major centre of fine cabinetmaking.