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A RARE TUDOR JOINED OAK LOW CUPBOARD WITH DRAWER AND CANTED SIDES. WEST COUNRTY, PROBABLY DEVON. CIRCA 1540.

A RARE TUDOR JOINED OAK LOW CUPBOARD WITH DRAWER AND CANTED SIDES. WEST COUNRTY, PROBABLY DEVON. CIRCA 1540.

THIS RARE EXAMPLE OF A TUDOR LOW CUPBOARD WAS LIKELY DESIGNED FOR AN ELITE ARISTOCRATIC OR MERCHANT HOUSHOLD, PROBABLY FOR THE STORAGE OF PLATE. THE CANTED CASE IS MODELLED AFTER SLIGHTLY EARLIER FRENCH EXAMPLES, UNUSUALLY THE FACADE ON THIS CUPBOARD IS TRAPEZOIDAL AND NOT PENTAGONAL AS THE MAJORITY OF EARLIER FRENCH AND ENGLISH CUPBOARDS WERE. THIS CUPBOARD IS CONSTRUCTED AROUND FOUR VERTICAL STILES, TWO AT THE FRONT AND TWO AT THE BACK IN THE SAME MANNER AS A COFFER, ALL THE STILES RUN DOWN TO THE FLOOR TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE CUPBOARD. UNLIKE THE EARLIER FRENCH AND ENGLISH PENTAGONAL CUPBOARDS WITH SIX VERTICAL STILES ALLOWING THE FRONT TWO TO HAVE A DECORATIVE FINIAL ROLL. THE CARVED DECORATION ON THIS CUPBOARD PROBABLY DERIVES FROM LATE FIFTEENTH CENTURY ITALIAN FRESCOS AND SIMILAR WORK UNDERTAKEN BY IMMIGRANT ITALIAN AND FRENCH ARTISANS WORKING ON BUILDINGS SUCH AS HENRY VIII's HAMPTON COURT. MOST NOTABLE IS THE PORTRAIT ROUNDEL WITH APPLIED THREE DIMENSIONAL BEARDED FACE THAT OCCUPIES THE DOOR OF THIS CUPBOARD. THIS IS ESSENTIALLY A LESS SOPHISTICATED OAK VERSION OF THE TERRACOTTA ROUNDELS APPLIED TO THE FACADE OF HAMPTON COURT IN 1521 BY ITALIAN ARTISAN GIOVANNI DA MAIANO. A SIMILAR BUT PENTAGONAL CUPBOARD SOLD AT AUCTION IN 2006 FROM BOARSNEY HOUSE, A SIXTEEN CENTURY PROPERTY IN EAST SUSSEX WHICH FEATURED A SIMILARLY CONFIGURED DOOR BEARING THE THREE DIMENSIONAL PORTRAIT ROUNDEL,WHICH WAS PROBABLY USED BY THE PROJECTING BEARD AS A HANDLE. THE SIDE PANELS WITH PROFILE PORTRAITS EMERGING FROM STYLIZED CHALICES ONE FEMALE AND ONE MALE. THE TWO HORIZONTAL LOWER PANELS WHICH ENCLOSE THE DRAWER ARE CARVED WITH 'AMPHISBAENA' SERPANTS WITH HEADS RELATIVELY NUMEROUS IN LATE MEDIEVAL ENGLISH WOODWORK, STONEWORK AND MANUSCRIPT ILLUMINATION, RARELY SEEN AFTER 1500. SO THE APPEARANCE OF THIS CARVING ON THIS CUPBOARD INDICATES THAT ITS MAKER HAD ONE FOOT IN THE GOTHIC DESIGN WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY EMBRACING AN ENGLISH RENAISSANCE. A LONGER AND MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THIS CUPBOARD CAN BE OBTAINED VIA E-MAIL.
22.5" WIDE AT THE FRONT X 43.5" WIDE AT THE BACK X 34" HIGH X 20" DEEP,
STOCK NO 999.