Food Cupboard
about 1500 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Cupboard of boarded construction with pierced, tracery ornament and a single, central pierced door. The top formed of a single board 1.8 to 2.2cm thick, which is pegged and nailed down to the front, back and ends. With two repaired infill patches at the back corners. The sides are both formed from a single plank, to which are nailed the two side front stiles with integral, carved arch feet. (In the right side is a rectangular patch at mid-height with hammered tin(?)-plate behind over white filler.) At the top the two front stiles are nailed onto a batten of (new?) oak, protruding in the centre above the door so that it is flush with the stiles. The back consists of 4 vertically-grained planks (one split), butted and nailed and to rebates cut in the sides, and to a top, inner rail. The door is a single board with replacement sections half-lapped in at the top (15cm high) and at the bottom (20cm), and with an iron 'horseshoe' bracket added behind, held on 4 old butterfly hinges (but no sign of iron staining inside). The 4 tracery 'cut-outs' with uniform shallow rebates behind are in fact inserts from the back, sitting against a shallow rebate; the piercing in the door is cut in the solid. The bottom of the cupboard is a single plank, with a neat projecting 'lip' below the door.
Traces of brown paint on the back of the door. Apparently made from fast-growth oak.
Although this cupboard might be an essentially old structure with extensive restoration (top, floor, with replaced tracery piercings, and new hinges and possibly replaced door) it is more likely to be a relatively recent creation, given what seems to be the anachronistic structural design, notably the inner top 'rail' reinforcing the front, and projecting lip to the floor board, and the uniform finish and 'old' repairs. The butted joints all seem to be straight and tight.
Thicknesses of timbers:
Front stiles: 21mm (right), 23-24mm (left)
Top c20mm
Sides c23mm
Door 21-3mm
Mid shelf 18mm
Bottom shelf 20mm
Traces of brown paint on the back of the door. Apparently made from fast-growth oak.
Although this cupboard might be an essentially old structure with extensive restoration (top, floor, with replaced tracery piercings, and new hinges and possibly replaced door) it is more likely to be a relatively recent creation, given what seems to be the anachronistic structural design, notably the inner top 'rail' reinforcing the front, and projecting lip to the floor board, and the uniform finish and 'old' repairs. The butted joints all seem to be straight and tight.
Thicknesses of timbers:
Front stiles: 21mm (right), 23-24mm (left)
Top c20mm
Sides c23mm
Door 21-3mm
Mid shelf 18mm
Bottom shelf 20mm
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Oak, carved |
Brief description | English, 1480-1520, oak, 82/765, 83/547 |
Physical description | Cupboard of boarded construction with pierced, tracery ornament and a single, central pierced door. The top formed of a single board 1.8 to 2.2cm thick, which is pegged and nailed down to the front, back and ends. With two repaired infill patches at the back corners. The sides are both formed from a single plank, to which are nailed the two side front stiles with integral, carved arch feet. (In the right side is a rectangular patch at mid-height with hammered tin(?)-plate behind over white filler.) At the top the two front stiles are nailed onto a batten of (new?) oak, protruding in the centre above the door so that it is flush with the stiles. The back consists of 4 vertically-grained planks (one split), butted and nailed and to rebates cut in the sides, and to a top, inner rail. The door is a single board with replacement sections half-lapped in at the top (15cm high) and at the bottom (20cm), and with an iron 'horseshoe' bracket added behind, held on 4 old butterfly hinges (but no sign of iron staining inside). The 4 tracery 'cut-outs' with uniform shallow rebates behind are in fact inserts from the back, sitting against a shallow rebate; the piercing in the door is cut in the solid. The bottom of the cupboard is a single plank, with a neat projecting 'lip' below the door. Traces of brown paint on the back of the door. Apparently made from fast-growth oak. Although this cupboard might be an essentially old structure with extensive restoration (top, floor, with replaced tracery piercings, and new hinges and possibly replaced door) it is more likely to be a relatively recent creation, given what seems to be the anachronistic structural design, notably the inner top 'rail' reinforcing the front, and projecting lip to the floor board, and the uniform finish and 'old' repairs. The butted joints all seem to be straight and tight. Thicknesses of timbers: Front stiles: 21mm (right), 23-24mm (left) Top c20mm Sides c23mm Door 21-3mm Mid shelf 18mm Bottom shelf 20mm |
Dimensions |
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Object history | Bought by the previous owner, Mr Arnold Duer Sapworth, from the collection of Mr Thomas Sutton, sold at Christie's, 1 March 1917, lot 134 (£56.14.0, sold anonymously). Mr Sutton believed the cupboard to have dome from the Benedictine Nunnery of Cherley Mynchery, Oxon., suppressed in 1524 and to have been long kept in part of the buildings used for a barn or outbuildings of a farm (RF Nominal File, Sapsworth A.D, MA/1/S471) |
Production | possibly created c1900 |
Collection | |
Accession number | CIRC.278-1964 |
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Record created | June 24, 2009 |
Record URL |
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