Antique Cupboard

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 Originally made without locks, therefore not intended to contain valuable items.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.

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.

Court Cupboards
1. All timbers of same age, colour, patination, distinctly hardened with age and smoke from wood fires.
2. Adze marks on chamfered panels on insides of doors  they should not be smooth-planed.
3. Base showing considerable signs of damage from kicking, knocks from brooms, and damp.
4. No locks on doors originally: these cupboards were accessible to both servant and master.
5. Backs in roughly fitting boards or planks, shrunk across the grain with age.
6. All joints mortise-and-tenon with dowels. Backs nailed to frame with iron clout nails, usually with rectangular heads.
7. Shelves held by dowelling pins to sides.
8. Bottom planks of cupboards marked and smoothed with use, same age as back boards and approximately same colour.
9. Bulbs on column supports attached with glue and wooden pegs, or turned and finished by hand, often of slightly irregular shape.
10. No marks on top timber of any sign of another tier. Look for dowel holes and discolouration of wood. Timber of top should be same age as rest of piece.
11. Plain panelled sides with cross-frames corresponding to rest of frame.
12. Pin hinges of iron or steel on cupboard doors.
Likely restoration and repair
13. Replaced panels from larger pieces of panelling or another piece of furniture of later date.
14. Upright column supports replaced colour will be different, lack rich dark patina and feel rough to the touch.
15. Base of piece replaced bottom of base cupboard will be of newer wood. Suspect more restoration if this is the case.
16. Marriage of two pieces of furniture to make one whole. Check side panels and cross frames for difference in colour, frames not matching up.
17. If completely made up from old timbers, this will show up as the patchwork it is.
Historical background
Court cupboards the forerunners of the ‘buffetier’ and sideboard — were made for keeping and displaying food and dishes from the mid-sixteenth century onwards. Originally they stood in the hall, where most meals were taken, and later in the parlour. Their name is possibly derived from the French word court meaning ,short’, since they often stood on tables. Their generally accepted form is that of a deep two-doored cupboard below, with a stepped single or double tier of smaller cupboards above, supported on pillars. Earlier food cupboards, such as the aumbry, show a similar  function, as do ‘food hutches’ and ‘livery cupboards’. All these had pierced or slatted doors to allow air to circulate around the food inside.
By the time the court cupboard had evolved, meals were taken in a room apart from the hall, where there was a need to display fine plate, porcelain, ‘delft’ and pewter on the shelves of an imposing piece of furniture.
Court cupboards had a relatively short lifespan in English houses, but its Welsh equivalent, the cwpwrdd deuddarn or cwpwrdd tridarn (depending on whether it had two or three tiers) survived for far longer.
Construction and materials
Without exception these massive, impressive pieces of furniture were made in oak, constructed on the same principle as frame and panel chests. Sides were left plain and simply panelled; the back was boarded with planking, and inside, the shelves themselves were often no more than 2“ in thick, edged with deep moulding to give the impression of solidity.
Quite often, in the overhanging top, there was a shallow hidden recess or shelf, which can only be reached from the inside, and which may have served the same function as the hidden cushion drawer of later chest-on-stands: as a secret compartment for documents and small objects of value.
Detail
The technique of bolection moulding was at its height during the second half of the sixteenth century, and cherubs heads, masks, figures, foliage, and the imposing bulbs themselves were applied to the framing timbers with strong glue and wooden pegs. S-scrolls and C-scrolls were used in profusion, either carved shallowly in the timber, or applied in relief. Decoration was still recognizably derived from stone-mason’s work, with typical arched shapes, and ogee and strapwork decoration. Door panels were divided into smaller shapes with symmetrical designs on either side.
On many court cupboards, intricate carved detail has been applied as `strapwork’ or strips of decoration, often copied from the earliest pattern books of designs from the Netherlands.
Variations
Food hutches, like old-fashioned, wire-gauze meat-safes, served to keep food away from rats, cats, dogs and mice. ‘Bread hutches’ and `dole hutches’ were used in religious establishments to preserve the sacramental bread, and can be distinguished by their barred or railed doors and their relatively small size. Large establishments,: court cupboard, with typical arcaded decoration and late seventeenth-century turned supports. Framing timbers were usually undecorated except for simple moulding.
both religious and secular, possessed food hutches or aumbries, usually with pierced patterns in the doors to allow air to circulate and help prevent stored food from going mouldy. If they were fitted with rudimentary drawers, these were more likely to contain candles or rush dips than cutlery.
Below: the carved decoration on this aumbry is reminiscent of early Gothic roundels, but the drawers and moulding on the framing timbers indicate a later date.
Reproductions
Eighteenth century
By the eighteenth century country versions of court cupboards were being made, as well as hall cupboards and parlour cupboards, in plain oak, with the heavy pillars replaced with pendant knobs, and frequently with a row of drawers in the top frieze. Panels of doors were often ‘coffered’, with the chamfering on the outside and not inside, and used as simple decoration. Although brass screws and advanced furniture-making techniques were being used for sophisticated furniture, the country carpenter continued to use nothing
more than mortise-and-tenon joints, dowelling and crude iron nails.
Nineteenth century
As with all furniture of this period, the greatest period of reproductions was from c.1830 onwards, with particular emphasis on 1860-70′Wardour Street oak’. Even later, more grotesquely exaggerated ‘Tudor’ furniture was made in considerable quantities in the 1920s and 1930s, but today it should deceive few people, since the timber lacks seasoning, it is stained, saw-cut wood lacking patination, and the machine-drilled dowelling and machine-cut applied strapwork are still raw and rough to the touch, usually because the wood has been cut with no regard to grain.
Price bands
Elizabethan oak, $4,500-5,000.
Elizabethan oak with restoration, $1,500-1,800.
Seventeenth-century, plain panels, $2,000-3,300.
Genuine aumbry, $2,000-4,000.
Victorian ‘Gothic’, $500-850.
Made-up, nineteenth- or twentieth-century, $250 500,