For years armoire cabinets have served us well. They were a place to organize, store and conceal clothing, bedding, towels and more recently, clunky televisions and stereos. Since we have upgraded to slick flat-screened TVs, iPods and enamored with the minimal look, we have found new ways to keep excess out of sight; we simply don’t want these massive pieces of furniture anymore.
The origin of a large storage piece goes well back in time. In the Netherlands, the Dutch created a similar piece known as the Kast or Kasten. By the seventeenth century, the Kast had become the most important piece of furniture in the house. It was a very functional and very impressive piece of furniture. It signified material success and a well-ordered household – two things the Dutch were known for. Filled with linens, needlework, porcelains, silver and pewter, the kast was kept locked, with the woman of the house in charge of the key.
The origin of a large storage piece goes well back in time. In the Netherlands, the Dutch created a similar piece known as the Kast or Kasten. By the seventeenth century, the Kast had become the most important piece of furniture in the house. It was a very functional and very impressive piece of furniture. It signified material success and a well-ordered household – two things the Dutch were known for. Filled with linens, needlework, porcelains, silver and pewter, the kast was kept locked, with the woman of the house in charge of the key.
Pieter de Hooch, Interior with a Woman Besides a Linen ChestTypically located in the center hallway of a household, the Kast was huge, as much as eight feet in height and six feet wide. Because they were so large, they were often sold rather than moved. The kast was usually constructed in four sections. The upper section had two cupboard doors which opened to reveal shelves. That section was surmounted by a projecting, removable cornice. This upper section rested on a lower case piece which sometimes had a second set of cupboard doors or sometimes merely a single long drawer, or even two short drawers side-by-side for additional storage. The entire piece was raised on a fourth section of molding over bun feet. Often given to a bride before her wedding, a wealthy burgher would purchase one as a symbol of his financial success. It was elaborately adorned, paneled, carved, ebonized or inlaid with exotic veneers.
Cornelis de Man, Interior of a Townhouse
Dutch women had more rights than many other women throughout the Continent. Foreign travelers noted with horror that wives had the right to haul their husbands before magistrates to charge them with wife beating or to find them guilty of entering into a house of ill repute. Husbands could be publicly admonished or barred from taking communion. Women could even get their marriages annulled if a husband returned from sea with a venereal disease. Widows could inherit and administer their husband’s property, bequeath it or transfer it as they liked. Women were the keepers of the house and had the right to toss their husbands out the door for excessive drinking.
Cornelis de Man, Family Group at Dinner Table, 1658In exchange for all these rights, women were encumbered with strict household duties. They cared for their home, husbands, children; they looked after the cooking, cleaning and outdoor gardens. A clean, well-ordered home was held in high esteem. It was considered free from wanton chaos which was apt to seep into unkempt households. The presence of the kast helped to keep this order.
The seventeenth century was the Golden Age of the Netherlands. Wealth flooded into port cities. The merchant class became prosperous. It was a period of high achievement in the arts and sciences. The Dutch burgher lived a much more affluent life than did any other merchants elsewhere.
The Dutch loved comfort and expensive items. Foreign travelers also noted the love and care that was lavished upon the Dutch home. Many Dutch burghers possessed considerable disposable incomes, and they thought nothing of spending a lot of money and effort to make their home a comfortable retreat.
In America the Kast was the most recognizable symbol of Dutch heritage, particularly in New York and New Jersey from the mid-seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries. Their designs similar to their European counterparts, although the methods of construction were not as elaborate or sophisticated. Kasts were still very important household items.
Decoration could be painted ornamented with symbols associated with good fortune and fertility. Door panels painted with flowers and fruit, geometric forms often in grisaille which simulated carving on more elaborate and expensive furniture.
As industrialization gained speed in America, the cultural and practical functions of kast diminished. The kast gradually ceased to be made. Preserving and storing textiles became less important in the nineteenth-century household. Factories began producing inexpensive machine-made linens and cottons. Built-in cupboards and closets were designed in houses. The old and outdated Dutch cultural symbols that once decorated the kast no longer seemed relevant to a dynamic young nation. Inevitably with these changes, the kast faded away.