court cupboard

noun

, English Furniture.

a sideboard of the 16th and 17th centuries, having three open tiers, the middle of which sometimes has a small closed cabinet with oblique sides.

court cupboard

a wooden stand with two or three tiers, used in the 16th and 17th centuries to display pewter, silver, etc

First recorded in 1585–95

The derivation of the names is a bit obscure, but the court cupboard probably comes from the French court, short.

These little livery cupboards usually stood on another, from which they were detached, and which was the "court-cupboard."

Away with the joint-stools, remove the court-cupboard, look to the plate.

Your ruff, your poker, are engendering together upon the cupboard of the court, or the court cupboard.

Often the lower part contained receptacles as in the characteristic English court-cupboard.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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