Food cupboard

A food wardrobe with chest construction was popular furniture in West Pomerania in the 19th century. Its characteristic feature was the open-top panel of single-leaf doors. The free space was usually filled with simple rungs, turned columns or cut-outs in the shape of a heart or a flower. Hidden behind the openwork door, the interior fitted with shelves was a good, airy place for storing food, mainly dairy products. In the lower, built-in part of the wardrobe, dishes were hidden. Such a wardrobe, like a sideboard, was often a representative piece of furniture, standing in the residential part of the house (kitchen) and not in the utility part, where food supplies were stored, that is in the chamber or pantry. The presented food wardrobe, also called dairy wardrobe, is very carefully made of pinewood, most often used in Pomeranian carpentry. Its dimensions, especially the height of almost 2 metres, the decorative, wide cornice surrounded by a decorative strip, and above all, the painting indicate the wealth of the house where it stood. The wardrobe is entirely painted in navy blue. The decorative motifs are red, green and white and the main decorative element is the tulip. The flower symbolises wealth and social status, and red being the dominant colour - love. The tulips are painted in a bouquet on the lower panel of the door; on the rest of the facing wall and the sidewalls, they are depicted as twisting branches. The field above the door is additionally decorated with a rhombus with an inscribed floral motif. The wardrobe's decoration forms a compact, well-thought-out composition made by a skilful hand of a person with a great artistic flair. Thanks to this, the wardrobe intended for storing food is a very aesthetic piece of furniture.

Iwona Karwowska