This post is part of a blog series revealing the table of contents of upcoming Issue Sixteen. As is our custom, we’ll be discussing one article per weekday in order to give you a taste of what is to come.
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“Cornered Charm: An Examination of a 19th-Century Corner Cupboard”
While some furniture is meant to quietly blend into the background, other examples shout for attention. Still another category belongs to those pieces built to tie a room together, to take an almost architectural role in changing the feel of a space. Often these take shape as built-in cabinets, but not always – the corner cupboard is one example of such a standalone piece.
In Issue Sixteen, we will examine a lovely example of a mid-19th century New England corner cupboard. It features graceful wear and a few mysteries of its own. The paint was intentionally distressed at some point in the past, lending an age-worn look that has often been popular among antiques aficionados. The wavy glass and simple molding present a diversity of textures and shadows, highlighting the proportions of the piece.
As always, we’ll be looking close, inside and out, the back and underside – no surface will remain unturned. Uniquely, this cupboard rests on casters, as if intended to be regularly moved. But there are other riddles here, too. Some of the hardware tells a confusing story, and there are a few tool marks that seem to defy easy explanation. But such challenges can offer loads of new context to our understanding of the mindset of the early cabinetmaker.
