Like the armchair, this open court cupboard was another new and highly fashionable item of wood furniture. It has a high level of decoration supporting its display function – for showing off assets. William Harrison, in his <em>Description of England</em>, claims that, in addition to the elite’s possession of such ‘show furniture’, ‘the inferior artificers and many farmers...have, for the most part, learned also to garnish their cupboards with plate’ - he may have been exaggerating, but he shows how important this kind of domestic display around dining was for our upper middling groups in particular.<br /> <br /> The cupboard was in itself self an important asset and investment item as a substantial piece of solid furniture, the front in particular richly carved, indicating the way it was intended to be viewed. It could be used for displaying plate and finer wares, and inventories show that the shelves were often covered in coloured and embellished cloths, sometimes even (presumably thin) cushions, adding to its eye-catching qualities. It might hold an ewer (large jug) and basin for washing hands before eating and those items could be quite flashy (in silver gilt for instance). William Conway, a Chester merchant, kept a court cupboard with both an ‘earthen’ (pottery) and a pewter bason and ewer in his parlour, for example, worth £8 14s 2d.
Court Cupboard (Cupboard), c.1620

Back to Assets Collection icon

Court Cupboard

Court Cupboard (Cupboard), c.1620

Like the armchair, this open court cupboard was another new and highly fashionable item of wood furniture. It has a high level of decoration supporting its display function – for showing off assets. William Harrison, in his Description of England, claims that, in addition to the elite’s possession of such ‘show furniture’, ‘the inferior artificers and many farmers...have, for the most part, learned also to garnish their cupboards with plate’ - he may have been exaggerating, but he shows how important this kind of domestic display around dining was for our upper middling groups in particular.

The cupboard was in itself self an important asset and investment item as a substantial piece of solid furniture, the front in particular richly carved, indicating the way it was intended to be viewed. It could be used for displaying plate and finer wares, and inventories show that the shelves were often covered in coloured and embellished cloths, sometimes even (presumably thin) cushions, adding to its eye-catching qualities. It might hold an ewer (large jug) and basin for washing hands before eating and those items could be quite flashy (in silver gilt for instance). William Conway, a Chester merchant, kept a court cupboard with both an ‘earthen’ (pottery) and a pewter bason and ewer in his parlour, for example, worth £8 14s 2d.

This object appears in our memory parlour and web tour. Can you find it?

Object Type Cupboard
Year c.1620
Material Wood
Owned By SBT 1993-31/276
Keywords self-fashioning; display; consumption; assets; home; householder; craftsmanship; wood; furniture
Image Credit Court cupboard (c.1620), SBT 1993-31/276, CC-BY-NC-ND; Image Courtesy of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Back to Assets Collection icon