A sideboard was initially a separate room used to store tableware, especially valuable dishes and cutlery, and to prepare food for immediate serving, for example, by heating it up, as it often cooled on the way from the kitchen or while waiting for its turn. Sideboards, as furniture, developed in the 17th century. Initially, they were pieces of furniture for a room – a sideboard, later for a living room, primarily used to display valuable dishes. Since the development of a separate room – the dining room – their function broadly mirrored that of the previous room. It is unknown when the typical kitchen unit developed, but it likely occurred around the same time. It was a two-piece unit consisting of a cabinet and a top unit, sometimes equipped with a small, ventilated food cabinet, usually a two-piece unit. The most “typical” form is a lower cabinet with shelves and separate drawers under a countertop, often marble, with the top unit in the form of a three-part cabinet, supported by side supports, with an open space above the countertop. Kitchen cupboards were usually painted white.
