French Country · Encyclopedia · The Cabinetmakers' Work
Cévennes bread cupboard
A walnut cupboard from the Cévennes whose upper part, where bread was kept, is ventilated by cut-out hearts surrounded by holes. Rustic everyday pieces like this are rarer than the carved armoires of other provinces.
French: armoire des Cévennes · Cévennes · walnut
At a glance
- Region: Cévennes
- Material: walnut
- Use: storing bread
- Feature: pierced hearts for ventilation
What it is
Carved hearts are well known on the fruitwood armoires and buffets of Alsace, Normandy, the Vendée and Provence. In this Cévennes cupboard, hearts are cut right through the wood and outlined with drilled holes.
They let air circulate in the upper part, where the household kept its bread.
Rustic work
The book contrasts this rustic, practical decoration with the elaborate carving of wedding armoires. It belongs to everyday furniture, made by local joiners for use rather than display.
Collecting and using one today
Look for an original pierced section, consistent patina and sound joints. Ventilated food cupboards sometimes lost their doors and were later fitted with replacements.
A bread cupboard works well in a kitchen or dining room for linen, china or pantry goods.
Source: Les Trésors de France: vieux métiers et objets d'autrefois (Éditions Rustica, Détours en France collection, 1995), pp. 124–129, with general background on the object. The book was published in 1995, so workshops, people and figures are described as they were then. Regional names and dates are given as the book records them; a style or a region of origin does not by itself date an individual piece.