House & Garden 
29 
Court cupboards were so called because they 
were short—smaller than their predecessor, the 
armoire. This court cupboard is English, of 
Queen Elizabeth’s time 
jects.” We are informed by those who have 
made original researches in the history of 
furniture that the earliest cupboards were prob¬ 
ably devoted to ecclesiastical uses. Viollet-le- 
Duc says they were placed in churches near 
the altars and were repositories for sacred ves¬ 
sels, vestments and even of the Holy Eucharist. 
In small churches an armoire, or cupboard, 
often took the place of the sacristy, an apart¬ 
ment which in larger church edifices held sev¬ 
eral cupboards for ecclesiastical uses. 
I suppose the cupboard naturally evolved 
from the chest. Indeed, through various phases 
of evolution the chest was differentiated into 
the linen press, the cabinet, the bookcase, the 
wardrobe, the sideboard, the dresser and the 
secretaire. But the cupboard developed a char¬ 
acter of its own throughout the ages. In ancient 
times it was not met with. Then the chest suf¬ 
Another example of English oaken court cup¬ 
board shows the bulbous legs and strap carv¬ 
ing that is characteristic of Tudor cabinet 
work. This example was made about 1600 
ficed, or the storage room with its shelves and 
its own gathering of chests, depending on the 
worldly goods and the importance, in conse¬ 
quence, of the householder. 
When indoor living advanced in mediaeval 
times, treasured objects began to require a place 
other than chest or storeroom. Convenience, 
and at the same time security, suggested the 
inbuilt cupboard and so it came to be placed in 
the paneling of the walls of the living apart¬ 
ment of a mediaeval gentleman’s home. Later, 
hanging and standing cupboards found their 
places in these living-rooms, painted as minia¬ 
tures in old manuscripts show us. Just how 
these came to be is a simple enough matter to 
guess. First came the single chest. Then one 
chest was placed on top of another, but as 
the lifting off of the top chest for the purpose 
(Continued on page 64) 
An English corner 
cupboard of Chip¬ 
pendale design. 
Corner cupboards 
are found from 
Queen Anne’s time 
on 
{Left) The double 
hutch and the linen 
fold paneling place 
this English court 
cupboard at 1525 to 
1625 
{Right) An oak 
cupboard of Ameri¬ 
can make after an 
English design. It 
is dated about 1700 
