Oak, spice cupboard; England; 1650-1660

"Oak, the central panel of the door is carved with tulips and foliage and its framework carved with bands of conventional floral designs and wavy scrolls. The interior is fitted with six drawers and two shelves. On the sides are wrought iron handles." - 1928 registered description.

Spice cupboard of rectangular form with a single, panelled, carved door, containing a nest of drawers on five levels (with 6 drawers, 2 wide drawers possibly missing from two shelves). Of boarded construction, the door joined (and double-pegged), with moulded top and base boards and a batten added along the front underside to give it a slight backward lean, and a quarter round moulding added to the left end. With four dust-boards (1 replaced, 1 repaired) fitted into grooves cut into the ends. The back formed by 4 horizontal nailed planks covered with a decorative paper with floral lattice pattern. The door with a single panel carved with stylised bouquet centred on a tulip-like flower, enclosed by rails and stiles chamfered on the inner edges and carved in low relief with an undulate band enclosing six-lobed leaves. The door is hung on two wrought iron strap hinges held on hand-made nails, and fitted with an iron lock and wooden knob (replacement), and two iron handles (on modern screws) are fitted on the exterior ends. The drawers of oak with some softwood, of pinned construction, each with applied, ebonised, mitred moulding applied to the front and a turned, wooden knob.

Bought for £15 from C.G.Stirling, of 30 Launceston Place, Cornwall Gardens, London W8 (RF 28/706). A letter from Stirling to the Museum 12.1.1928 explains that he purchased the cupboard from 'Shenker of Red Lion Street, Holborn'. It was dated on acquisition to c1670, and described as having original drawers with original knob handles (ie no mention of missing drawers), and the door carving was described as 'unusually good quality'.

On loan to Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire (National Trust), and displayed in the downstairs kitchen, 2014 (mounted on wall-brackets).

Benno Forman (1972) drew attention to the method used to chamfer the rails and stiles containing the panel, also used by craftsmen in Hadley and Hatfield, Massachusetts, c1650-75.

For discussion of spice cupboards see Chinnery, p.332ff, and note that none of those illustrated bears carrying handles. Most were made to hang on the wall, either by means of as small hanger, or simply by being nailed through the back-boards. The construction of mural cupboards is therefore necessarily light of weight, in order to avoid undue strain, and they are usually flimsily constructed using thin, nailed boards. The methods used ares similar to those found on boxes, and many may have been made by box-makers, though some incorporate joined framework.

Notes from R.P. 28/706

23/1/28 Objects submitted on Approval for Purchase form
lists: "1. Spice cupboard. English; mid-17th century". £15

12/1/28 letter from Stirling to Clifford Smith
explains that he purchased "a rare little piece of oak of exceptional merit" from "Shenker of Red Lion St. Holborn".

"It is a small English spice cupboard, or rather cabinet: the door covered with fine carving of acorns, tulips & foliage. Inside the drawers are all original with original knob handles. The iron work is original & interesting….the colour is exceedingly rich. The Museum does not, as for as I can see, possess any piece of this kind… I should date the cupboard unhesitantingly circa 1670. I have an armchair with similar carving dated 1677: It is a very rare little piece in fine condition".

25/1/28 Minute paper notes by Clifford Smith
state it is "a very good example of English 17th Century work - the carving on the front of the doors being of unusually high quality".

Comparable objects:
- 'A George II Oak Hanging Cupboard', Christie's South Kensington, 21/06/2011, Lot 30
- 'A George II Oak Hanging Cupboard', Christie's South Kensington, 21/06/2011, Lot 22
- 'A George II Painted Wood Spice Cupboard', Christie's South Kensington, 09/03/2010, Lot 218
- 'An English Oak Spice Cabinet', Sale 10634, Christie's South Kensington, 07/07/2015, Lot 11
- Spice box with tulip, Dorney Court, Bucks, FMS Visit 4/2010

Made in England, possibly Yorkshire.

This spice cabinet was made in England between about 1650 and 1660. Although carved in a somewhat vernacular style, the door of this cabinet is decorated with the highly fashionable tulip. Before the improving of winter feed for livestock in the 1750s, spices formed a vitally important part of the kitchen both as a preservative and so as to counteract the taste of meat of cattle that had been killed and salted at the onset of winter. Spices were stored in cupboards with insides arranged like writing cabinets, with smaller compartments for finer powders and more expensive items. Just as the writing cabinet was the most prestigeous piece of furniture in a drawing room or closet, the spice cabinet, although much smaller, occupied that role in the kitchen, as container of the most important items for the cook.

On loan to Woolsthorpe Manor (National Trust).

W.16-1928