Apothecary Cabinet Table

This mahogany cabinet is an unusual piece of furniture.

With the hinged leaves to the sides, to extend the top, the cabinet looks like an early cabin table but with a panelled cupboard door to contain the drawers. A Croft table is a similar design. The four graduated drawers with flush brass ring pull handles give a clue. The round water marks to the bottom of the drawers is evidence that they contained a large number of small bottles. The support bars also suggest that the drawers originally had a frame with cut outs to hold the bottles in place. Added to this, the drawers have stops so that they cannot be completely removed.

From the size of the bottle marks, it is likely that they held medicine and so this was an Apothecary Cabinet. The extending top with its gallery makes a good working surface and adds to the theory. The well-shaped bracket feet have hidden castors and there are carrying handles to the sides to make it easier to move. Whether this piece of furniture was meant for travel or not is difficult to determine but it certainly would not have looked out of place on board a ship for use by the surgeon. Circa 1800.

The top extends to 40 3/4 inches (104 cm)