While the New England inventories speak of cupboards, the word kas, or kasse, appears in Dutch inventories in New York. The kas was the Dutch cupboard, and was different in style from the cupboard in use in New England. It was of great size, and had large doors, behind which were wide shelves to hold linen. The kas was usually made in two parts, the upper one having two doors and a heavy cornice above. The lower part held a long drawer, and rested upon large ball feet. A panelled kas of somewhat different form is shown in Illustration [72], without the ball feet, and made in three parts; the lower section with the drawer, the middle cupboard section, enclosed with large doors, and a second cupboard above that, the whole surmounted with a cornice. This kas is made of kingwood, a hard wood with a grain not unlike that of oak, but with darker markings. The bill of lading is still preserved, dated 1701, when the kas, packed full of fine linen, was imported from Holland by the father of Dr. Samuel Johnson, president of King’s College from 1754 to 1763. It is now owned by Dr. Johnson’s descendant, Mrs. Johnson-Hudson of Stratford, Connecticut.
Illus. 72.—Kas, 1700.
Inventories during the latter years of the seventeenth century speak of a “sideboard cupboard,” “sideboard table,” and “side-table,” but the sideboard, in our acceptance of the word, dates to the latter half of the eighteenth century. Chippendale designed no sideboards with drawers and compartments, but he did design side-tables, or sideboard tables, with marble or mahogany tops and carved frames. A Chippendale side-table is shown in Illustration [73]. The wood is mahogany, and the frame is carved elaborately and beautifully in designs similar to those of Chippendale and his contemporaries, which abound in flowers, birds, and shells. The cabriole legs end in massive lion’s paws. This table is what is called Irish Chippendale.
Illus. 73.—Chippendale Side-table, about 1755.
In Ireland, working at the same period as Chippendale, drawing their ideas from the same sources, and probably from Chippendale as well, were cabinet-makers, much of whose work has come down, notably side-tables. The shell plays a prominent part; on this table beside the large shell are two small ones upon each leg. The carving of the Irish school is not so fine as its English model, but is very rich. This table is five feet long and the original top was of marble. It is owned by Harry Harkness Flagler, Esq., of Millbrook, New York.