Antique French Provincial Country Oak Confiturier Jam Console Cabinet 30"

Description

Antique French Provincial country or farmhouse Confiturier / jam console / cabinet / cupboard / buffet. Made of oak featuring Louis XIII styling with scalloped top and floral carved door with long hinged hardware. The cabinets interior was modified by to includes a drawer with multiple shelves and files / cubbies.

A confiturier is a versatile cabinet that was traditionally used to store jams and marmalades in France. Confituriers are often smaller than buffets or chests of drawers, making them suitable for storage in any room.

From the thirteenth to the nineteenth century, we preserved in honey, sugar or vinegar, all the wonders that we grew in gardens, orchards and vegetable gardens. The term “jams” (confitures) thus encompassed a wide variety of preparations made from flowers, herbs, berries, fruits and vegetables, likely to delight the guests in any season. The term jam also referred to candied fruits, fruit jellies, jellies, marzipans, pastilles and dragees. These sweets were not renamed “confectionery” until the 19th century.

Specifically to store these varied delicacies, all therefore classified in the category of jams, pieces of furniture called “confituriers” came to complete the range of family furniture at the dawn of the 18th century.
It is no coincidence, this period corresponds to the democratization of the use of sugar, until then delivered at a high price exclusively in pharmacies of apothecaries. At the end of the 17th century, this “white gold” made its massive entry into grocery stores and, consequently, into many more homes.
If these jam cabinets were originally the prerogative of wealthy families, they too have gradually democratized and made their appearance in peasant families who made it a point of honor to offer this type of furniture to newlyweds.

Condition

Good antique condition, wear and distressing commensurate with age and use, fading, slight angle warp to door, door wont quite close all the way with drawer in.

Dimensions

29" x 17" d x 29.5"h