Holt Antiques at Walsingham Mill
Late 17th Century Charles II English Antique Oak & Inlaid Dole Cupboard, c.1680
Late 17th Century Charles II English Antique Oak & Inlaid Dole Cupboard, c.1680
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A rare and most appealing Charles II oak dole cupboard, circa 1680, of low rectangular form and retaining a wonderfully unusual inlaid decoration. The front presents an inlaid frieze above a pair of doors fitted with bobbin-turned spindles, the whole raised in the honest vernacular manner of the late Stuart joiner.
The dole cupboard takes its name from the dole — the charitable distribution of bread to the poor, often endowed by a parish bequest and frequently dispensed from within the church itself. The turned spindle doors are the defining and entirely functional feature: the open bobbin galleries admitted a free circulation of air to keep the loaves sweet and guard against mould, while excluding vermin. Such pieces stand at the meeting point of the domestic, the charitable and the ecclesiastical, and carry with them a quiet social history of parish benevolence that collectors find irresistible.
The inlay here is a particular distinction. Decorative inlay on a piece of this humble purpose is uncommon, and its presence lifts the cupboard well above the ordinary — a maker taking evident pride in an object destined for charitable service.
Provenance: England. Late 17th century.
Material: Oak
Condition: There is some old worm, with attendant chipping and minor losses consistent with great age. None of this detracts from what is a genuinely rare survival of the form, with excellent colour and patina.
Dimensions: 40½ in wide × 24¾ in high × 17¼ in deep (103 cm × 63 cm × 44 cm).
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