While the New England inventories speak of cupboards, the word _kas_,
or _kasse_, appears in Dutch inventories in New York. The kas was the
Dutch cupboard, and was different in style from the cupboard in use in
New England. It was of great size, and had large doors, behind which
were wide shelves to hold linen. The kas was usually made in two parts,
the upper one having two doors and a heavy cornice above. The lower
part held a long drawer, and rested upon large ball feet. A panelled
kas of somewhat different form is shown in Illustration 72, without
the ball feet, and made in three parts; the lower section with the
drawer, the middle cupboard section, enclosed with large doors, and a
second cupboard above that, the whole surmounted with a cornice. This
kas is made of kingwood, a hard wood with a grain not unlike that of
oak, but with darker markings. The bill of lading is still preserved,
dated 1701, when the kas, packed full of fine linen, was imported
from Holland by the father of Dr. Samuel Johnson, president of King’s
College from 1754 to 1763. It is now owned by Dr. Johnson’s descendant,
Mrs. Johnson-Hudson of Stratford, Connecticut.
[Illustration: Illus. 72.—Kas, 1700.]
Inventories during the latter years of the seventeenth century speak
of a “sideboard cupboard,” “sideboard table,” and “side-table,” but
the sideboard, in our acceptance of the word, dates to the latter half
of the eighteenth century. Chippendale designed no sideboards with
drawers and compartments, but he did design side-tables, or sideboard
tables, with marble or mahogany tops and carved frames. A Chippendale
side-table is shown in Illustration 73. The wood is mahogany, and the
frame is carved elaborately and beautifully in designs similar to those
of Chippendale and his contemporaries, which abound in flowers, birds,
and shells. The cabriole legs end in massive lion’s paws. This table is
what is called Irish Chippendale.
[Illustration: Illus. 73.—Chippendale Side-table, about 1755.]
In Ireland, working at the same period as Chippendale, drawing their
ideas from the same sources, and probably from Chippendale as well,
were cabinet-makers, much of whose work has come down, notably
side-tables. The shell plays a prominent part; on this table beside the
large shell are two small ones upon each leg. The carving of the Irish
school is not so fine as its English model, but is very rich. This
table is five feet long and the original top was of marble. It is owned
by Harry Harkness Flagler, Esq., of Millbrook, New York.
[Illustration: Illus. 74.—Chippendale Side-table, 1765.]
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