Cupboard

Date1800-1820

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Caroline County

MediumCherry, yellow pine and tulip poplar

DimensionsOH: 37 1/2"; OW: 40 13/16; OD: 18 3/4in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Sara and Fred Hoyt Furniture Fund

Object number2012-86

DescriptionAppearance: Cupboard with overhanging top with rounded edge; two recessed flat paneled doors with ogee molded inner edges of rails and stiles; bead on outer edges of stiles and rails around doors; bracket feet.

Construction: The structural top, medial shelf and bottom, each comprised of two tongue and groove joined boards, are nailed from the exterior into dados in the case sides. The bottoms are slightly chamfered on the underside in order to do so. One inch above the structural top, a single board cherry top is face nailed from above to the sides, back and upper rail.

The stiles are nailed to the front edges of the sides and extend from the cherry top to the floor as do the sides. The joining of the top rail to the stiles is hidden, but the bottom rail is joined to the stiles with a very unusual tongue and groove lap joint with closed ends, and it is likely that the top rail is the same. The upper rail is face nailed to the front edge of the structural top and the lower rail is face nailed to the edge of the bottom. The stiles and rails have an integral bead on the inside edge that is mitered at the corners and forms a frame for the doors.

A support block in each front corner is nailed to the bottom board from above. The shaped sides and front rail are nailed to the block and together they form, along with the stiles, the front feet. The shaped sides alone form the back feet.
Three tongue and groove joined vertical boards form the back which is nailed into rabbets in the sides from the exterior of the sides, and into the edges of the structural top, the medial shelf and the bottom.

The rails of the single panel doors are through-tenoned and pegged into the stiles. The flat panels are chamfered on their backs to fit into dados in the stiles and rails. An integral beaded astragal on the edge of the proper left door overlaps a rabbet on the edge of the proper right door when closed. The underside of the medial shelf has been relieved to receive a rotating wooden latch which is attached with one screw to the inside of the proper right door, allowing it to turn and secure the door. The iron door hinges are mortised into the case stiles and door stiles. The lock is surface mounted on the proper left door.

ProvenanceDescended in the Hoomes, Maury, and White families of Bowling Green Farm in Bowling Green, Virginia.