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Antique wooden furniture displayed in a showroom

The History of the Sideboard

Antique History & StylesDate Published
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The sideboard developed from serving tables and slabs into specialised dining-room storage during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Historical significance

Pedestals, cellarets, drawers, cupboards and raised backs answered service, display and storage needs.

A collector's lens

Check whether sections belong together; long use and changing dining customs encouraged additions and conversions.

Practical takeaway

Record materials, dimensions, marks, condition, restoration and provenance separately. Compare with securely catalogued examples before strengthening an attribution.

Sources and further study

  • [V&A furniture collection](https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/furniture)
  • [The Met: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History](https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/)
  • [CINOA Code of Ethics](https://www.cinoa.org/about/code-of-ethics/)

Dates and attributions should be tested against the individual object, documentary evidence and specialist scholarship.

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