lantiques

The housekeeper’s cupboard is a firm favourite for numerous storage needs within the home with its shelved areas and drawers providing excellent storage for a multitude of items. The housekeeper’s cupboard is now fairly common place although its origins date back centuries. We have all seen these, usually quite large, cupboards in period dramas and films forming a backdrop to some gloriously equipped period kitchen. This too many is the classic housekeeper’s cupboard with what can seem like an endless number of doors and drawers. Usually in sections, ie a top and a base, the top section very often carries glazed doors. This of course is perfect for not storing but sometimes more importantly displaying the house’s best china. The middle or centre section of the cupboard normally sees a long line of drawers. Typically these would be used to store cutlery, smaller items of linen such as serviettes, kitchen stationary and in earlier times, almost certainly candles.

The housekeeper’s cupboard during its long history has had several names attached to it. Two of my personal favourites are the kitchen safe or the pie safe. These names conjure up images of deep chicken and ham or game pies with thick, hand pressed golden glazed crusts. Or a brace of freshly plucked pheasant lying in wait for roasting that evening.

Although common place in most European countries in one form or another, the housekeeper’s cupboard as we know it in today’s form and design was used extensively back in the early 1800’s with the migration of Dutch in communities to Pennsylvania in the United States. They took with them items of furniture which through the centuries have become popular staples in what we would see as traditionally furnished homes.

One important aspect of the original housekeeper’s cupboard design was its ability to allow the circulation of air. Back in the day, its primary purpose was to store food, making the need for good ventilation essential thereby helping to prolong the life of perishable foods. The housekeeper’s cupboard at that time would have formed a central part any household.

As time went on with living standards improving, in terms of, health and aspirations, families and households found themselves in a more favourable financial position. The use of housekeeper’s cupboard began to evolve not only in its design but also in its function. The cupboard became more ornate and decorative, typically incorporating glazed doors. Many of these cupboards became bespoke units actually built into the kitchen forming a permanent fixture. This practice was seen widely in English country and stately homes.