Antique Cupboard

Antique English Corner Cupboards - walnut cross banded glazed-door corner cupboard - walnut bow-fronted corner cupboard - oak corner cupboard of 18th Century with panelled doors - 18th century mahogany bow-fronted corner cupboard with fluted pilasters - 18th century mahogany corner cupboard - country corner cupboard -  corner cupboard with with three drawers

Although antique corner cupboards were made throughout the 17th century they do not seem to have come into more general use until the end of it. From then until about 1750 corner cupboards were made in the prevailing taste for town use, but subsequently they seem to have retired to the country as far as manufacture is concerned. For this reason perhaps, the majority of hanging corner cupboards found in shops nowadays are of later 18th century date and often made of oak, with mahogany cross banding or decoration. Inlaid shells and paterae are also frequently found in these later pieces.
It is almost certain that bow-fronted corner cupboards fetch more in price than flat ones; generally due to their greater elegance; as a general form however the corner cupboard is not over-popular and has not
appreciated in value as much as more utilitarian pieces in the everyday sense such as chairs, chests, dining tables and bureaux. The pine open corner cupboards of Essex type have had something of a vogue and can
generally be put to more decorative use than the closed hanging type.

A walnut cross banded glazed-door corner cupboard of c. 1725 with broken pediment. It has been suggested that such cupboards became popular at the time to store and display the expensive tea sets then in vogue.
The figure of the walnut veneers is elegantly matched and the moulding on the cornice is cross-grained.
Value points: Quality of decoration and veneers
Quality and colour of cross-grained mouldings  Quality of glazing

A walnut bow-fronted corner cupboard with cross banding c. 1720. Possibly designed to stand on a larger bow-fronted corner cupboard.
Value points: Small Size
Quality, figure and patination of veneer

Solid walnut bow-fronted corner cupboard of c. 1730 of country origin. The construction and mouldings are very simple.
Value points: Colour and patination .. Size - small
Quality of mouldings

An oak corner cupboard of c. 1740 with panelled doors banded in mahogany. Cupboards of this style, often as a low stand were made from the beginning of the century onwards but the dentillated top cornice and mahogany decoration indicate the date mentioned. Rather a large form of corner cupboard generally.
Value points: Colour and patination  Quality of mouldings

A mid 18th century oak bow-fronted corner cupboard with fluted pilasters. The ‘H’ hinges are typical of the type used by country makers, although the pilasters add quality to the piece.
Value points: Colour and patination
Small size

Mid 18th century mahogany corner cupboard with broken pediment and panelled doors. The moulding to the cornice is finely executed and the dark figured mahogany in the shaped door panels is rich in colour.
Value points: Size - slender width
Colour and patination
Figure of wood and decoration  Moulded cornice

A small mid 18th century oak corner cupboard with the door having a fielded panel inlaid with a star decoration in boxwood and ebony. This latter decoration is found on other furniture of the second quarter of the 18th century and continued in country use until later. Beware however of ‘improvers’ who inlaid the pattern at a later date.
Value points: Colour and patination  Inlaid decoration

Oak bow-fronted country corner cupboard with mahogany banding on the doors. Probably of late 18th century date. The top moulding is dentillated and there is an inlaid medallion in boxwood and ebony at the top of the flat side surfaces,
Value points: Colour and patination  Size - Slender in width  Decoration and inlays

Late 18th century mahogany corner cupboard with fluted sides and decorated with satinwood inlays. The oval central panel to the door is decorated with a beautifully figured piece of mahogany veneer. The top cornice is dentillated with satinwood inlay and the frieze is also decorated with an inlaid satinwood classical motif.
Value points: Colour and patination
Figure of wood and decoration  Size - Slender width

A late 18th century oak corner cupboard with a panelled door with three drawers below. Beneath the bold top cornice moulding there is a band of mahogany veneer. The three small drawers suggest that the piece may have been designed for kitchen use although the quality of construction and door panel moulding are of fairly refined craftsmanship.
Value points: Colour and patination  Decoration and inlays  Quality of mouldings  Drawers below

ANTIQUE COURT CUPBOARDS WITH ENCLOSED SHELVES
About 1610-1800
Aprestigious item in the 17thC, much less so in the 18thC, when it was only country-made. Used for displaying and storing food and plates, cups, in the hall (later in the parlour) where meals were taken. Originally made without locks, therefore not intended to contain valuable items. Earliest surviving examples date mostly from about 1650.
In Wales, called a deuddarn; a tridarn when a third stage is present.
STYLE AND APPEARANCE
Generally in two cupboarded sections, the upper cupboard shallower than the lower (providing a display shelf), with a projecting cornice and frieze. Until about 1630-1640 this was linked to the base by turned baluster supports (until approximately 1610 bulbous and carved, then plain and elongated); thereafter replaced by small pendant turnings. Frieze carved and sometimes surmounted by shallow moulding (often a later addition).
Upper section with two cupboards, typically enclosing a decorative central panel, behind which may be a secret shelved compartment. Lower section with ornamental frieze above variously panelled doors and, in the 18thC, a frieze of two (or three) short drawers. Plain panels at sides. Stile feet.
In the 17thC stiles, rails and muntins usually
18thC Welsh , oak tridarn with arched and fielded panels.
moulded; in the 18thC plain, with fielded and sometimes arched panels.
MATERIALS
Principally oak; sometimes walnut, elm, beech etc. (though survivals are rare). Holly, bog oak, boxwood, bone used for inlay; sometimes ebony and ivory.
OTHER CUPBOARDS
Various other joined and decoratively carved cupboards were made for similar purposes. Some have areas of pierced carving to allow air to circulate inside. Often-mentioned types include: aumbries, hutches, livery, game or bacon cupboards. Conformation and value vary considerably. Check construction, finishes and use of timbers to determine authenticity and date.
CONSTRUCTION
Framed and panelled with pegged mortiseand-tenon joints. Chamfered edges to panels. Turned supports and pendant dowelled into place. Backboards and top nailed on. Applied
A 17thC oak court cupboard with carved mouldings glued. Drawers on 18thC pieces dovetailed; linings rebated and running on bearers. Inner shelves approximately + inch/I cm thick.
Watch out for Victorian ‘carve-ups’ and for marriages of lower and upper halves (further details, see p. 89).
DECORATION
Carving, principally on friezes and upper panels (these are often arcaded), but can be more extensive. Generally greater geometric emphasis than on open-shelved type. Occasionally applied mitred mouldings and split turnings (see CHESTS OF DRAWERS, EARLY PANELLED OAK, p. 84). Inlay of geometric and floral patterns (sometimes with birds) or chequer inlay of bone (or ivory) and ebony quite common.
Handles and hinges: Turned wooded knobs and generally exterior flat iron hinges in 17thC; brass knobs or handles and interior brass hinges in 18thC.
FINISH
Varnish or oil polish, followed by wax polish.
RELATIVE VALUES
Much more common than open-shelved variety, but still fetch four-figure sums; only very late examples in three figures.
Late medieval oak livery cupboard.

ANTIQUE COURT CUPBOARDS WITH OPEN SHELVES (BUFFETS)

About 1570-1680
Apiece of furniture derived from medieval prototypes, comprising a set of three open shelves, which in grand houses was draped with fabric or carpet and used to display plate, but in lesser homes could be used as a side-table. The names buffet, court cupboard, sideboard and dresser were seemingly inter-changeable.
STYLE AND APPEARANCE
Three shelves of equal size, each with a deep frieze; the top and middle shelf frieze are generally deeper than the lowest and often contain a drawer. Turned front supports, either continuous from top to bottom, form the corner framing, or are dowelled into separate framed shelves. Continuous rectangular stiles at the back, sometimes with simple carved mouldings. Feet formed as the square base of the continuous uprights or as the stiles of the lowest shelf framing; can be concealed by mitred base moulding. Sometimes panelled cupboard with central door and angled sides in the upper half
Decoration of the shelf friezes seldom matches; the turnings of the supports may or may not be identical on the different layers.
MATERIALS
Principally oak; sometimes walnut, elm, beech etc. (though survivals rare). Holly, bog oak, boxwood, bone and imported ebony and ivory used for inlay.
CONSTRUCTION
Framed, with pegged mortise-and-tenon joints. Drawers (where present) rebated and nailed; grain running mostly back to front; run on side bearers. Supports may dowel into

shelves above and below. Mouldings are usually carved out of solid wood, though on late examples may be glued on. Many buffets were originally made without a cornice moulding, with a planked top merely nailed to the frieze; cornice mouldings are often therefore a later ‘improvement’.
DECORATION
Principally carving; often elaborate, with guilloche, strapwork, gadrooning, S-scrolls and other repetitive motifs. Occasionally grotesque figures and heraldic emblems. Heavy bulbous cup-and-cover turnings on supports, sometimes fantastic animals.
Some have additional inlay, particularly on cupboard doors, of floral designs (sometimes with birds) and black and white chequer patterns. The latter are common on bottom-shelf friezes.
FINISH
Originally varnish and/or wax polish. Should now have good patination (see p. 8).
RELATIVE VALUES
Early examples in original condition rare; fine, extensive carving and presence of inlay may push price into five figures; certainly in four.
VICTORIAN ALTERATIONS
Watch for Victorian carve-ups, which are quite common. Look for dark all-over stain (particularly seepage around joints), regular saw marks (made by machine saw), regularly shaped machine-cut pegs (or no pegs at all), the presence of round-headed nails or screws, and discrepancies in quality and execution of carving between the various parts.
Court cupboard with canoed cupand-cover  supports.
MATERIALS
Rosewood, satinwood, mahogany, oak, walnut, and other decorative veneers. Various woods; ebony, ivory, and so on, used for inlay. Sometimes marble for tops (usually grey/ white for cheaper pekes; other colours for better quality). Pine or cheap Honduras mahogany for carcases.
CONSTRUCTION
Standard methods were employed. Many veneered; after about 1830 finer (about 1/16th inch/1.5 mm) machine-cut veneers were used. They are relatively easy to detect.
Many simple Victorian cabinets converted to Regency by removal of their superstructure, addition of a marble top, and replacement of their wooden door panels with brass grilles and pleated silk. Check construction of the grilles; Victorian and later grilles have soldered and studded joints; earlier ones were simply notched together.
DECORATION
Brass inlay during Regency. Some carving and turning. Gilt metal mounts (and sometimes porcelain plaques) on some pieces from about 1860. Painted and gilded panels (often of Japanese design) and embossed ‘leather’ paper used for decorative effect on aesthetic pieces after 1870.
FINISH
Wax polish. French polish after about 1820. Ebonised (i.e. black-stained) finish especially popular after 1870.
RELATIVE VALUES
Straightforward side cabinets (and chiffoniers) are often expensive because of their small and useful size as well as their simple and usually elegant appearance. Rosewood rather than mahogany, brass inlay and lattice grille doors (if originally intended) are all indicators that a higher price may have to be paid. All but the cheapest quality Victorian pieces are priced in three figures, even if they are ‘converted’ Regency.
Music and other small Victorian cabinets may fetch least; so also elaborate ebonised  aesthetic’ cabinets – despite high quality –because ebonised furniture has never been popular.

ENGLISH CORNER CUPBOARDS
About 1690-1800
Mahogany corner cabinet with swan- neck cresting, chamfered sides and typical brass H-hinges
Thought to have been introduced from Holland, coinciding with the fashion for painted pine-panelled rooms, corner cupboards were used to store and display fine china, silver or other valuables in the drawing-room, Some could be hanging, above dado level, others are of double height. They generally disappeared from main reception rooms around 1750 (when the fashion for wallpaper replaced panelling) but were still made for other rooms and for country parlours until the end of the century, and have been popular reproduction pieces ever since.
STYLE AND APPEARANCE
Considerable variation throughout the century. Can be:
Simple mahogany bow-fronted corner (cupboard.
Hanging, with bow front: Mostly in japanned pine or walnut veneer. A pair of doors, their curve continuing on the side framing. Simple moulding above and below. Doors generally rebate together (to form continuous smooth curve) but sometimes narrow moulding conceals join.
Hanging, with flat front: Usually a single panelled door with chamfered framing at sides (this sometimes decorated with fluting or carved columns). Simple base, but bolder cor-
MATERIALS
Walnut and mahogany veneer on a pine (occasionally oak) base. Pine if painted or japanned. Country versions mostly in solid oak.
CONSTRUCTION
Right 18thC pine corner cupboard; left, reproduction Georgian-style mahogany corner cupboard.
nice; moulding, sometimes with frieze below. Occasionally a broken pediment. Door can have a shaped, and on country versions, fielded, panel, sometimes glazed, with or without glazing bars. Earliest versions evidently had a panel of mirror glass, seldom still in place.
Double-height: Mainly straight-fronted; occasionally bow-fronted. Initially made to match (and sometimes actually fitted into) wall panelling, with a join at dado level. Many therefore made of pine (once painted, now often stripped and waxed) with two panelled doors below, and two glazed or even open shelves above. The most desirable have a rounded barrel back, the half-domed top occasionally carved as a shell. The grandest have architectural mouldings (often with doors forming an arch bordered by broad carved pilasters).
Continuous plinth or bracket feet; the plainest (oak) country versions have plinth or stile feet.
Later veneered versions have bracket or, after 1780, ’swept’ feet, below plain, panelled base door(s). Upper door(s) panelled or glazed, the latter with decorative arrangements of glazing bars. Bolder, deeper moulded cornice than hanging types, sometimes frieze too. (If seen on a single hanging cupboard, this probably indicates there was once a base.)
On all types, interior shelves are nearly always curved and shaped. Both they and the backboards were fashionably painted, mostly blue or green, sometimes red or yellow.
LATER REPRODUCTIONS
This type of corner cabinet was popularly reproduced by the Edwardians, often with a dentil frieze (a feature of only some 18thC examples) on top of a glazed cabinet, and rather bright, yellow inlay or green-stained stringing, fans and conch shells. Also widely reproduced today –often veneered in yew or cheap mahogany – but frequently too narrow overall, with a tall, lower cupboard.
Framed construction with glued mortise-andtenon joints. Mitred joints and veneer on better quality. Many veneered all over. Tops rough, but under-side of hanging cabinets finished. Always locks, but generally no (or very simple wooden) catches. Invariably backed with unfinished planking.
Curved doors on bow fronts coopered (i.e. large number of verticals cut at slight angle and glued (or grooved and glued) together before being planed to a smooth surface.
Cornice and base mouldings similarly constructed.
Watch for marriages on double-height pieces; check for matching colour and grain of timber (both back and front); also for shape of interior shelves and matching lockplates and escutcheons. Blind doors may now be glued.
DECORATION
Principally figuring of timber. Occasionally simple inlay and stringing in late 18thC (and on Edwardian reproductions). Mahogany cross-banding and occasionally inlay (often star shapes) on country-made oak pieces.
japanning popular for early pieces, with chinoiserie decoration on a mainly black ground.
Hinges: Exterior H- or butterfly hinges until about 1760 (later on country versions). Decorative lock escutcheons.
FINISH
Varnish, followed by wax polish. japanning, paint (many now stripped and waxed).
RELATIVE VALUES
Popular, but seldom immensely valuable, items. Many hanging cupboards (especially country versions) priced in three figures. Good walnut veneer, a broken pediment or fine inlay will increase value considerably.
japanned examples –even when early – may seem surprisingly cheap unless in red, blue or yellow (cream) rather than the normal black. These are rare and may fetch five-figures.
Double-height cupboards are approximately double the value, but much more if early and architectural with a barrel back.

COURT CUPBOARDS WITH ENCLOSED SHELVES

About 1610-1800
Aprestigious item in the HOC, much less so in the 18thC, when it was only country-made. Used for displaying and storing food and plates, cups, in the hall (later in the parlour) where meals were taken. Originally made without locks, therefore not intended to contain valuable items. Earliest surviving examples date mostly from about 1650.
In Wales, called a deuddarn; a tridarn when a third stage is present.
STYLE AND APPEARANCE
Generally in two cupboarded sections, the upper cupboard shallower than the lower (providing a display shelf), with a projecting cornice and frieze. Until about 1630-1640 this was linked to the base by turned baluster supports (until approximately 1610 bulbous and carved, then plain and elongated); thereafter replaced by small pendant turnings. Frieze carved and sometimes surmounted by shallow moulding (often a later addition).
Upper section with two cupboards, typically enclosing a decorative central panel, behind which may be a secret shelved compartment. Lower section with ornamental frieze above variously panelled doors and, in the 18thC, a frieze of two (or three) short drawers. Plain panels at sides. Stile feet.
In the 17thC stiles, rails and muntins usually 18thC Welsh Oak tridarn fielded panels.
moulded; in the 18thC plain, with fielded and sometimes arched panels.
MATERIALS
Principally oak; sometimes walnut, elm, beech etc. (though survivals are rare). Holly, bog oak, boxwood, bone used for inlay; sometimes ebony and ivory.
OTHER CUPBOARDS
Various other joined and decoratively carved cupboards were made for- purposes. Some have areas of pierced carving to allow air to circulate inside. Often-mentioned types include: aumbries, hutches, livery, game or bacon cupboards.
Conformation and value vary considerably. Check construction, finishes and use of timbers to determine authenticity and date.
CONSTRUCTION
Framed and panelled with pegged mortiseand-tenon joints. Chamfered edges to panels. Turned supports and pendant dowelled into place. Backboards and top nailed on. Applied
A 17thC oak court cupboard with carved panels and fumed pendant.

COURT CUPBOARDS WITH OPEN SHELVES (BUFFETS)

About 1570-1680
Apiece of furniture derived from medieval prototypes, comprising a set of three open shelves, which in grand houses was draped with fabric or carpet and used to display plate, but in lesser homes could be used as a side-table. The names buffet, court cupboard, sideboard and dresser were seemingly inter-changeable.
STYLE AND APPEARANCE
Three shelves of equal size, each with a deep frieze; the top and middle shelf frieze are generally deeper than the lowest and often contain a drawer. Turned front supports, either continuous from top to bottom, form the corner framing, or are dowelled into separate framed shelves. Continuous rectangular stiles at the back, sometimes with simple carved mouldings. Feet formed as the square base of the continuous uprights or as the stiles of the lowest shelf framing; can be concealed by mitred base moulding. Sometimes panelled cupboard with central door and angled sides in the upper half.
Decoration of the shelf friezes seldom matches; the turnings of the supports may or may not be identical on the different layers.
MATERIALS
Principally oak; sometimes walnut, elm, beech etc. (though survivals rare). Holly, bog oak, boxwood, bone and imported ebony and ivory used for inlay.
CONSTRUCTION
Framed, with pegged mortise-and-tenon joints. Drawers (where present) rebated and nailed; grain running mostly back to front; run on side bearers. Supports may dowel into shelves above and below. Mouldings are usually carved out of solid wood, though on late examples may be glued on. Many buffets were originally made without a cornice moulding, with a planked top merely nailed to the frieze; cornice mouldings are often therefore a later ‘improvement’.
DECORATION
Principally carving; often elaborate, with guilloche, strapwork, gadrooning, S-scrolls and other repetitive motifs.
Occasionally grotesque figures and heraldic emblems. Heavy bulbous cup-and-cover turnings on supports, sometimes fantastic animals.
Some have additional inlay, particularly on cupboard doors, of floral designs (sometimes with birds) and black and white chequer patterns. The latter are common on bottom-shelf friezes.
FINISH
Originally varnish and/or wax polish. Should now have good patination (see p. 8).
RELATIVE VALUES
Early examples in original condition rare; fine, extensive carving and presence of inlay may push price into five figures; certainly in four.
VICTORIAN ALTERATIONS
Watch for Victorian carve-ups, which are quite common. Look for dark all-over stain (particularly seepage around joints), regular saw marks (made by machine saw), regularly shaped machine-cut pegs (or no pegs at all), the presence of round-headed nails or- screws, and discrepancies in quality and execution of carving between the various parts.
Cowl cupboard with carved cup-and-cover supports.

WALL CUPBOARDS
The turner’s art has been slightly neglected in this book. Those extraordinary chairs made almost entirely of turned parts are rather specialised but one does, however, still see wall cupboards which have turning for their main decorative feature.
A fine quality example of a turned wall cupboard. Only the top, bottom, shelf and door supports are not turned. The principal design used in making the spindles is a variant on the baluster form with a ridge cut at the widest point to lighten the appearance. Made in ash, it is unusual in being constructed entirely without a joined frame. A fine collector’s piece which is reflected in the price.
Late 17th century
A small oak spindle wall cupboard. The frame is joined and decorated with simple groove moulding and punch marks of various shapes. The top and bottom are nailed on and the top has extra strip to prevent objects slipping forward. The design of turning is again broadly baluster shaped with three central bobbins. The centre four spindles and a horizontal split of the top and bottom rail form the door. Good patination.
A form of hutch or food cupboard. This form is little removed from a cupboard with the panels removed and spindles substituted. Neither the carving nor the form of the spindles demonstrate any great quality.
The form of hanging cupboard is even more apparent. The spindles, of primitive form, now occupy even less space than in the previous examples. This should not, however, disguise the fact that this is a well-made, beautifully coloured and small example of oak furniture.

COURT CUPBOARDS  closed base
Most furniture of any height has a moulding round the top. Many court cupboards do not, or just very shallow ones. This seems to have caused a degree of embarrassment to generations of connoisseurs and dealers with the result that many now appear to have ‘later top moulding’. One should not be unduly worried by these additions. From the number of later enclosed types one assumes that they gradually superseded the open variety. This subject is dealt with in detail in Chinnery.
As it was meant to be, a very impressive piece with inlay of strongly contrasting coloured woods of simple bird and foliage design and stringing lines of equally arresting formation. Every flat inch of the front is covered in finely executed carving. One wonders how the carver managed to keep his chisel off the bulbous turnings  yet there are others equally heavily decorated with the same simple deep centre grooved turning.
Unusual in being small, this court cupboard has finely carved repetitive decoration on the frieze, while the doors have the usual heavy well-moulded frame. The panels appear to be beautifully carved with crisp stylised plants and flowers. The lower doors too, are well moulded. The big change is that the bulbous supports have contracted to emasculated stalactites  in this case so small they lack full form and may even have been cut off slightly. Expensive because ’small is beautful’.
A later, simpler version in which the inlay, which appears to be of much better quality than the previous example, is reserved for the important arched centre panel. The doors either side are inlaid with broad geometric patterns which are also used for the decorations on the lower doors. The top decoration is confined to a line of dentil mouldings.
Frankly, for the money, an uneven and not wildly exciting piece. c. 1630
Of more normal size and proportions and typical in that the doors and centre panel are the focus of attention. The bottom doors are also carved but with a more formalised repetitive pattern. The pendants are of bold form. The feet are a simple continuation of the outer stiles, the identical form to that used in the chests of the period. c. 1650
Interesting because dated 1744. Fielded panels with the middle centre panel holding prominence purely on size. As one would expect by this date a broad moulding, but the construction still the same with an extension of the stiles forming the feet. c.1744
An interesting piece. The liberal application of well-formed split baluster turnings and sprinkling of cabochon cut pieces, together with the geometrically applied cushion moulding to the central panel, argues a date of at least 1680. This is supported by the large ogee top moulding. On the other hand, the double arch and the two turned supports look back to an earlier date. A Low Countries craftsman working to a basic English style A very interesting piece especially if a good colour with fruitwood incorporated and plenty of
contrasts of light and shade. c.1680
A late example of the type. The top section has grown in size at the expense of the lower portion. The piece is panelled with a very poor arch on the top door and a wide frieze. If the bracket feet are original, they confirm the late dating. The pendants have become inverted finials. With its inability to provide display, it would be easy to see here the end of the road for such a design. c.1770

COURT CUPBOARDS  open base
Well-turned and carved melons (cup and cover). Again, note that the pattern does not need to match, also the box or holly and ebony inlay on the base appears in a mild form on the top of the two drawers. These were used as Tudor status symbols which could be employed to display the family silver when a show of wealth was required. c. 1600
The end of the road for the court cupboard (which incidentally haunts British furniture in the form of huge mahogany trolleys  ‘Buffets’ still to be seen in old hotels). The carving is weak and stylised, the turned supports a shadow of their former selves. Could even be a fake, and frankly, on an aesthetic level, if the colour of the original has gone there is a surprisingly small difference between them.
Mid-17th century

COURT CUPBOARDS
Nomenclature in antiques is as much subject to confusion as it is to snobbery. The word ‘buffet’, which has connotations of sideboards loaded with cold sandwiches or of damp railway stations, is not used by the cognoscenti to describe those open-shelved, bulbously supported pieces shown in this section. They are called court cupboards. There the matter does not rest, however, for the term court cupboard is itself something of a misnomer. So, as simply as possible:-
1 The term cup-board was applied to an open shelved side table (or sideboard) used to display plate (cups) and for the serving of food or the `dressing’ of it (hence the term ‘dresser’).
2 The open cup-board had one, two or three boards or tiers and sometimes had a drawer fitted to it.
3 The word ‘court’ in French means ’short’. It is possible that this is the origin of the term ‘court cupboard’ since these pieces are usually low, i.e. below eye level. This seems reasonable when one thinks of the gigantic size of Continental cupboards.
4 The word cupboard gradually came to mean a closed piece of furniture, with doors below, i.e. a two-stage closed version of the court cupboard. This, in Wales, was called a cupboard deudarn, i.e. a two-stage cupboard. It should really be called a hall or parlour cupboard but, since the modern words hall and parlour no longer mean the principal living room, the word court has been used as a substitute.
5 In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the cupboard deudarn was so popular in Wales that they developed a three-decker version of it, called a tridarn. This piece of furniture is virtually unique to Wales.
The author is indebted to Messrs. Thomas Crispin and Victor Chinnery for the above excursion into the clarification of semantics and humbly hopes he has done them justice. Now read on.
Copiously inlaid with box and holly, and ebony on the base. The maker has indulged in the love of playing with perspective that haunts European furniture of this, and slightly later, periods. Technically well carved but perhaps a little fussy without the overall panache of the first example. Note the absence of a top moulding. The top boards are simply nailed onto the frieze  a fairly common feature around this period.
c. 1590
Good strong gadrooning on the middle drawer and the linked rectangular pattern on top and bottom. The disappointments are the turned supports which are very modest in terms of the preceding examples but still retain the proper classical form at the top. Notice how wrong they look if you turn the page upside down, but how much better the strong bottom moulding would look at the top.