A George II Elm Corner Cupboard – Part One

Mural corner cupboards survive in their thousands and reflect, in miniature, the styles of the broader spectrum of case furniture of the eighteenth-century; from the earliest wainscot specimens on the walls of manor houses, to sophisticated veneered and cross-grain-moulded walnut cupboards; to the oft blind-fretted, pilastered and dentil-moulded mahogany-veneered representations that hung in the finest drawing rooms of the latter half of the century.

In many households, a corner cupboard would have been the only secure item of furniture in which to keep small necessities and personal items, while in fashionable residences, the corner cupboard attained higher status, often containing fashionable tea, china and associated paraphernalia.

Throughout the century, modest, parallel examples were made across the shires from locally grown timbers (ash, elm, fruitwoods, pine etc.), mimicking the designs and mouldings of their grandiose counterparts.

My lowly cupboard will be made from elm along the lines of the early eighteenth-century cupboard illustrated below. The most striking feature will be the door with its arched, fielded panel, hung on surface-mounted brass H-hinges.

George II mural corner cupboard, circa 1730. (Wakelin & Linfield)