A good example of a “court cupboard” with five degrees of stages ornamented with plate is shown in a picture printed in _Laurea Austriaca_ (Frankfort, 1627), representing an entertainment given by King James I. of England to the Spanish Ambassadors during the negotiations for the marriage of the Prince of Wales to the Infanta of Spain. The stages rest upon a frame of turned baluster legs connected by straining-rails. Below the first stage there is a drawer. The “carpets” hang over the front of the cupboard instead of over the sides, as was more usual. This picture would seem to prove that an ordinary side table of the period might be converted into a court cupboard by simply placing the requisite number of shelves above it. However, in the inventory of Sir Thomas Kytson (1603) the following occurs: “At y^e Great Chamber Dore one little joined boarde w^t a fast frame to it, to sett on glassis. Itm, a thing like stayres to set plate on.” In the early days, before the “livery cupboard” was brought from behind the screen into the hall, the “court cupboard” was removed from the lower end of the hall. The “livery cupboard” took its place. The “court cupboard” was then placed on the daïs, at the “Lord’s borde end,” or in a recess at the back of the high table. Sometimes it was placed in front of the bay window at the end of the daïs, where it acted as a kind of screen. The “livery cupboard” was not only used for service, but for “liveries” of food and drink, served at night and in between meals. Smaller livery cupboards were sometimes found in the bedrooms, and these were usually furnished with doors and locks. As food was kept in them, the panels are frequently perforated for the sake of ventilation. Occasionally, especially in later times, the uses of the “court” and “livery” cupboards were combined. Between these pieces of furniture, one difference long existed: a portion of the court cupboard was enclosed at a very early period, while the livery cupboard remained with its open shelves. If we may believe the old inventories, there were many varieties of the cupboard, or many names for it. We find cupboard and chest-of-drawers, great cupboard, table and cupboard, table-cupboard, livery cupboard, side cupboard, press cupboard, sideboard cupboard, half-headed cupboard, standing cupboard, “cort” cupboard, etc., etc. [Illustration: PLATE XI]