As far as this country is concerned, court and livery are used quite interchangeably, if one may judge from values given, for the prices of both are equally small or large, as the case may be: a court cupboard at Salem in 1647, 14s.; a livery cupboard at the same place in 1656, 18s.; a livery cupboard and cloth in 1674, £1 5s.; a court cupboard and cloth at Boston in 1700, £1; a court cupboard with a drawer at Boston in 1658, 16s.; a livery cupboard with drawers, 1666, 10s.

The cloth was mentioned quite as often with court as with livery, and suggests that their make-up must have been much the same. There is no mention of either court or livery cupboards in the early New York records, and the kasses or cupboards in use among the Dutch will be spoken of separately.

The Southern records contain quite frequent mention of both court and livery cupboards, but, as far as the writer has been able to determine, these pieces have utterly disappeared, and it may be assumed that they were in character and material the same class of furniture as those remaining in New England, as the source of supply for North and South was the same.

The wood is usually oak, with pine freely used for the cupboard tops, bottoms, and backs, and for the bottoms of the drawers when drawers are used. In the panelled cupboards the mouldings are occasionally found of cedar, but are more often of pine, beech, or maple, painted, and the turned ornaments, drops, nail-heads, turtle-backs, and triglyphs are of the same woods, also painted. The predominance of American oak in the construction of these cupboards denotes. of course, their manufacture here, and as they are such bulky, difficult pieces to transport, it would seem likely that comparatively few of them were brought over. The tops are finished with a thumb-nail moulding similar to that found on the chests.

Figure 159. Court Cupboard, about 1600.

Figure 159 shows a very beautiful court cupboard, the property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The lower section is open and in the upper section is .1 cupboard with splayed sides. The ends are supported by large, bulbous, turned columns similar to those found on the feet of tables of the Elizabethan period.

(See figure 674.) The surfaces of the upper pair are carved in an arabesque design and the upper surfaces of the lower pair are godrooned, while the lower section is carved in an acanthus-leaf design. Beautifully carved corbels are placed beneath each of the two boards. On the drawer is a well-executed arabesque design. The top rail is ornamented with a spray of flowers and leaves, and on each of the panels is inlaid a floral spray. The mouldings about the panels are carved in a guilloche design. On the lower rail is inlaid a checker-board design. This is one of the most beautiful court cupboards that has come under the writer's observation and is, of course, English, dating about 1600.

Court Cupboard, third quarter seventeenth century.

Figure 160 shows an American example of a court cupboard in the Bolles Collection, and its plainness is in striking contrast to the English piece shown in the foregoing figure. There is no carving on the piece, the ornamentation being obtained entirely by split spindles and bosses applied. The cupboard has splayed sides, and each panel is in an arched design from the centre of which is a pendent split spindle. The drawer front is a large torus moulding. Cupboards open below are very rarely found in this country. The arching and construction of this piece indicated that it was made in the third quarter of the seventeenth century.

The best American court cupboard that has come under the writer's observation is shown in Figure 161 and is in the Bolles Collection, the property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At the top is a moulding cut to resemble blocks with a terra ted lower edge, and three large corbels, between which are pairs ol rectangular bona with chamfered edges. The sides arc finished as the front. The recessed portion is straight and contains two cupboards; the doors of each are panelled in lozenge shape with a nail-head boss in the centre, and between the doors is a panel in arch form with split-spindle bosses. At each end is a cruciform panel with two small panels below. The lower moulding is cut in pairs of small vertical lines, a serrated line in scratch carving and the block design which appears above. Below the cupboard shelf is the same moulding that appears at the top. There are two drawers with a pair of split-spindle bosses at either side and in the centre. The skirt is cut in ogee curves and the straight legs have been slightly cut off.

Court Cupboard, third quarter seventeenth century.

Figure 162 shows a press cupboard constructed in the way most commonly employed. The cupboard in the upper portion is splayed at the corners and the overhanging cornice is supported by heavy turned posts. The torus moulded drawer is well carved in the familiar foliated design, as is also the top rail. The lower section is entirely enclosed with doors panelled in the simplest manner and the stiles and rails are perfectly plain. The panels on the upper cupboard are practically in the same design as those shown in the foregoing figure, and it is of about the same date.

Figure 162. Press Cupboard, third quarter seventeenth century.

Figure 163 shows a beautiful press cupboard in the Bulkeley Collection. It is constructed in the usual way, i. e., the upper cupboard having splayed sides, the torus moulded drawer, and a lower cupboard. The top rail is well carved in a foliated scroll design; at the corners and centre are applied ornaments known as nail-heads, taking the place of corbels. Under the top is a series of small corbels closely resembling a dentil cornice. The door panel of the upper cupboard is carved in a design of one large and four small circles with a rosette in each with foliation between. The side panels are double and in the designs of rosettes and foliation, while at the back is a band of foliated scrolls. On the moulded drawer is again the foliated scroll. On each outer stile are carved six rosettes and on the centre stile a guilloche design. On the lower rail is a lunette design. The panels of the door are carved in a waving circular design with foliations.

Figure 163. Press Cupboard, 1660-80.