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A sideboard, also called a buffet, is an item of 
The earliest versions of the sideboard familiar today made their appearance in the 18th century, but they gained most of their popularity during the 19th century, as households became prosperous enough to dedicate a room solely to dining. Sideboards were made in a range of decorative styles and were frequently ornamented with costly veneers and
A sideboard, also called a buffet, is an item of furniture
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
traditionally used in the dining room for serving food, for displaying serving dishes, and for storage. It usually consists of a set of cabinets
A cabinet in governing is a group of people with the constitutional or legal task to rule a country or state, or advise a head of state, usually from the executive branch. Their members are known as ministers and secretaries and they are ...
, or cupboard
A cupboard is a piece of furniture for enclosing dishware or grocery items that are stored in a home. The term is sometimes also used for any form of cabinet or enclosed bookcase. It gradually evolved from its original meaning: an open-shelved ...
s, and one or more drawers, all topped by a wooden surface for conveniently holding food, serving dishes, or lighting devices. The words ''sideboard'' and ''buffet'' are somewhat interchangeable, but if the item has short legs, or a base that sits directly on the floor with no legs, it is more likely to be called a ''sideboard''; if it has longer legs, it is more likely to be called a ''buffet''.
The earliest versions of the sideboard familiar today made their appearance in the 18th century, but they gained most of their popularity during the 19th century, as households became prosperous enough to dedicate a room solely to dining. Sideboards were made in a range of decorative styles and were frequently ornamented with costly veneers and inlay
Inlay covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with the ...
s. In later years, sideboards have been placed in living rooms or other areas where household items might be displayed.
In traditional formal dining room
A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually next to the kitchen for convenience in serving, though in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically the dining room is furnished with ...
s today, an antique sideboard is a desirable and fashionable accessory, and finely styled versions from the late 18th or early 19th centuries are the most sought-after and most costly. Among its counterparts in modern furniture styles, the form is often referred to as a ''server''. Some of the earliest production of sideboards arose in England, France, Poland, Belgium and Scotland. Later, American designs arose. Characteristic materials used in historic sideboard manufacture include mahogany
Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...
, oak
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
, pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae.
''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
, and walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...
.
See also
*Buffet
A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners serve themselves. A form of '' service à la française'', buffets are offered at various places including hotels, restaurants, and many social eve ...
– a way of serving food, rather than the item of furniture
* Cellarette
A cellarette or cellaret is a small furniture cabinet, available in various sizes, shapes, and designs which is used to store bottles of alcoholic beverages such as wine or whiskey. They usually come with some type of security such as a lock ...
(liquor cabinet)
* Chiffonier
The term chiffonier, also chiffonnier, may refer to one of at least two types of furniture. Its name comes directly from a French piece of furniture, the ''chiffonier''. The French name, which comes from the French language, French for a rag-pick ...
* China cabinet
A china cabinet is a piece of furniture, usually with glass fronts and sides, used to hold and display porcelain ("china") or other ceramics. Typical china held in such cabinets often includes cups, plates, bowls, and glasses. Along with a table, ...
* Credenza
A credenza is a dining room sideboard or display cabinet, usually made of burnished and polished wood and decorated with marquetry. The top would often be made of marble, or another decorative liquid- and heat-resistant stone.
The credenza s ...
* Hutch (furniture)
A hutch is an American English word for a particular type of furniture with a set of shelf (storage), shelves or cabinet (furniture), cabinets placed on top of a lower unit with a Countertop, counter and either drawers or cabinets. Modern hutch ...
* Madia (furniture)
A madia was a piece of furniture used during the High Renaissance period in Italy. A standing cupboard, the madia stored food and dishes, particularly bread, and were sometimes used as bread troughs. It is similar to the cassone, though generally m ...
* Sideboard (Edward William Godwin)
This sideboard was designed by Edward William Godwin (1833–1886), who was one of the most important exponents of Victorian ''Japonisme'' or Anglo-Japanese style, the appropriation of Japanese artistic styles.
Japan began trading with the W ...
* Welsh dresser
A Welsh dresser, sometimes known as a kitchen dresser, pewter cupboard or china hutch, is a piece of wooden furniture consisting of drawers and cupboards in the lower part, with shelves and perhaps a sideboard on top. Traditionally, it is a utilit ...
References
External links
* {{Authority control Furniture Serving and dining