Images(4)

Corner Cupboard

Date1740-1790

OriginAmerica, North Carolina or Virginia

MediumYellow pine

DimensionsOH: 44 1/4"; OW: 26 1/2"; OD: 13 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1940-209

DescriptionHanging corner cupboard with short canted sides and molding across top (missing molding across returnson top and across bottom). Paneled door divided into four sections with rectangular beveled panels and supported by two iron HL-shaped hinges. Replacement metal loop and hook for closure. Interior has one shelf one-third of the way down from the top, two other original shelves missing.
Label TextDuring the eighteenth century, the construction of corner cupboards was often the purview of carpenters who made closely related goods like house doors and window sashes. The corner cupboard's triangular or half-round format did not lend itself to the dovetailed joinery practiced by cabinetmakers. Cutting dovetails on three sides of a triangular board or along the curving face of a half-round one places many of the pins across the short grain of the wood where they are likely to fail. It is more practical to build such cupboards by nailing the vertical elements directly to the edges of the top and bottom boards and the shelves. Composed of heavy mortised-and-tenoned frames, the facades of most corner cupboards are also more akin to the work of carpenters than that of cabinetmakers.

This cupboard would have hung in the corner of a room and been used for storage. It has lost its base molding and some of the moldings at the corner of the top which would have created a more finished look when new. The interior of the cupboard originally had three shelves, two of which have been removed creating a taller interior storage space.