CUPBOARDS appear in English inventories as early as 1344. Persons of rank in England had their cupboards surmounted by a set of shelves to display the silver and gold plate. Each shelf was narrower than the one beneath, like a set of steps, and the number of shelves indicated the rank of the owner, five being the greatest number, to be used by the king only.

The first cupboard consisted of an open framework, a "borde" upon which to set cups, as the name implies. Later it was partially enclosed below, and this enclosed cupboard was used to hold valuables, or sometimes the food which was afterward distributed by the lady of the house. This was known as an almery or press cupboard, the former name corresponding to the French word armoire. The names "court cupboard" or "livery cupboard" were used to designate a piece of furniture without an enclosed cupboard, low or short, as the French word court implies, and intended for a serving-table, as the word "livery," from the French livrer, to deliver, indicates. In Europe such pieces were called dres-soirs.

Illus. 68. - Oak Press Cupboard, 1640.

Cupboards abound in colonial inventories, under various names - "small cupboard," "great cupboard," "press cupboard," "wainscot cupboard," "court cupboard," "livery cupboard," "hanging cupboard," "sideboard cupboard." The cupboard formed an important part of the furniture owned by men of wealth and position in the colonies.

These cupboards were generally of oak, but those made in this country have the backs and bottoms of the cupboards and drawers of pine. The interior is similar in all, the lower cupboard usually having shelves, which seldom appear in the upper cupboard. Sometimes the lower part of the piece is divided into drawers for holding linen.

Such a cupboard is shown in Illustration 68. This fine example is known as the "Putnam cupboard." It is now owned by the Essex Institute, of Salem, to which it was presented by Miss Harriet Putnam Fowler of Danvers, Massachusetts. It descended to her from John Putnam, who brought it from England about 1640. Upon the back may be seen marks of a fire which two hundred years ago destroyed the house in which the cupboard stood. The wood is English oak, and the mouldings used in the panelling are of cedar. The cupboard is in two parts, the upper section with the enclosed cupboard resting upon the lower section with its three drawers.

Another panelled cupboard is shown in Illustration 69, in which both the upper and lower parts are made with a recessed cupboard, enclosed, with a drawer below. The wood is oak, with the turned pieces painted black. This cupboard is in the house of Charles R. Waters, Esq., of Salem. Upon the top are displayed some good pieces of old glass.

Many press cupboards were carved in designs similar to those upon the early chests. Illustration 70 shows a carved press cupboard owned by Walter Hosmer, Esq., of Wethersfield. The wood is American oak and the cupboard was probably made in Connecticut, where there must have been unusually good cabinet-makers during the last half of the seventeenth century, for many of the best oak chests and cupboards existing in this country were made in Connecticut. This cupboard is very large, measuring five feet in height and four feet in width.

Illus. 09. - Press Cupboard, about 1650.

Illus. 70. - Carved Press Cupboard, 1680-1690.

All cupboards were provided with cupboard cloths or cushions, the latter probably made somewhat thicker than the simple cloth, by the use of several layers of goods or of stuffing. These cloths or cushions were placed on the top of the cupboard, to set the glass or silver upon, and the early inventories have frequent mention of them. By 1690 the press cupboard had gone out of fashion, and but few were made after 1700, although they continued to be used by those who already owned them.

About 1710 the corner cupboard made its appearance, often under the name "beaufet" or "beaufatt." It was generally built into the corner, and was finished to correspond with the panelling around the room. The lower part was closed by panelled doors, and the upper part had sometimes one glass door, sometimes two, opening in the middle; but more often it was left without a door. The top of the beaufatt was usually made in the form of an apse, and in the finest specimens the apse was carved in a large shell. The shelves were not made to take up the entire space in the cupboard, but extended around the back, and were cut in curves and projections, evidently to fit pieces of glass or china, for the display of which the beaufatt was built rather than to serve as a simple closet. A fine beaufatt is shown in Illustration 71, which is in the Deerfield Museum. From the construction of the pillars at the side it is evident that it was not intended to use a door to the upper part.

That there was some distinction between the corner cupboard and the beaufatt would appear from the difference in their valuation in inventories, but what was the difference in their construction we do not know. Cupboards were made, during the latter part of the eighteenth century, of mahogany and other woods, and such corner cupboards, made as a piece of furniture and not built into the house, were common in the Southern States, about 1800. The corner cupboard, or beaufatt, was both convenient and ornamental, taking up but little room and filling what was often an empty space. Our ancestors frequently utilized the large chimney also, by making the sides into small closets or cupboards, and occasionally a door with glass panes was set into the chimney above the mantel, with shelves behind it to hold glass or china.

Illus. 71. - Corner "Beaufatt," 1740-1750.