French Gothic cupboard

This solid walnut cupboard has survived in good state and is an important example of the style from around 1500. Very little Gothic domestic furniture survives today. There are more ecclesial items from which some household furniture derived. Moreover, there is still, fortunately, a wealth of illuminated manuscripts showing chairs, chests, tables, and other accoutrements of everyday life. This enables one to build up a picture of the type of furniture that existed at the time.

The scarcity of furniture from the Gothic and other early periods inevitably means that collections of such pieces are few. Early pieces of furniture, extant today, are often found to be coarse and heavy. Towards the end of the Gothic period new techniques were discovered; because of this the furniture became lighter in appearance and more portable.

The well-known art and antique dealer Aäron Vecht (b. 1886; d. 1965) acquired this piece of furniture in the early 1950’s through the intermediary Dr. Joseph Chompret (b. 1869; d. 1956). Like Vecht, Chompret was an authority on early ceramics, especially of majolica. They co-wrote an important article on Dutch majolica, published in Cahier de la Céramiqu et des Arts du Feu, numéro 2, 1956.

Provenance: Dr. Chompret (1869-1956), A. Vecht,  (Amsterdam, 1886-1965).

Exhibited: Delft, Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof,   1951.  Fleur & Interieur by Dr. Anne Berendsen and J. A. Gondrexon.