Gothic Carved Oak Dressoir

An exceptionally rare French Gothic oak carved dressoir, of framed construction with two drawers and two doors, retaining its original ironwork and locks. The upper doors are carved with blind Gothic tracery of cathedral-like form, each panel with pointed arches, cusped decoration and vertical shafts, flanking a central fixed panel of matching design. Beneath, a pair of drawers are carved with early linear mouldings of unusual survival, the sides and lower sections panelled with crisply carved linenfold.
The form is of particular importance: the dressoir, or “dressoir de parement,” was the principal display cupboard of late medieval France, used for the storage and ceremonial display of plate and precious vessels. Illuminated manuscripts of the period — such as the miniature here shown, c.1480 — depict comparable cupboards in use by princes and wealthy merchants. These cupboards stood at the centre of the domestic stage, symbolising wealth, order and stewardship.
The present example, with its combination of Gothic tracery and linenfold, exemplifies the high craftsmanship of late 15th-century French joinery. Its survival without alteration to pot-board form or later enrichment makes it especially rare.
Provenance:
Arthur Seager collection, Stow-on-the-Wold.
Then private collection, Herefordshire.