Press Cupboard (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
The “cup” board form, comprising open shelves on a stand, dates to the 16th century. Early cupboards were used to display ceramics, glass, and silver, usually atop a linen cloth. They were later enclosed and sometimes called court cupboards to signify their luxury status. The press cupboard was a uniquely American form. It combined the upper cabinet and display area of the court cupboard with the newly fashionable chest of drawers. The drawers served to store – or press – clothing and linens.
The technique and style of this cupboard link it to other furniture produced near New Haven, Connecticut, including another cupboard with possible family ties. Behind its drawer fronts are interior turnings that look like legs, suggesting that it began as a court cupboard; the drawers were probably added in the late 17th century. In its earliest form, it is a close match with a court cupboard produced for Governor Robert Treat in Milford, Connecticut (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Treat’s daughter, Abigail, married the town’s Congregational minister, Reverend Samuel Andrew, in 1686. An 1875 photograph of this cupboard documents its owner as a descendant of Samuel and Abigail.
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