At first the armoire was a series of shelves built into the wall and closed by wooden shutters or wings. At a later period when the piece became separate and movable it was merely a chest-upon-chest, both opening in front by means of doors or wings. Just as the chest, placed on a stand, formed the cabinet, so one chest placed upon another formed the armoire. In the early period of their existence the difference between the cabinet and armoire was not definitely fixed, and indeed, cabinet, armoire and buffet are often synonymous. It is not until the Seventeenth Century that these pieces first become perfectly distinct. The armoire seems to have been little used in civil life during the Middle Ages, but was greatly employed in the monastic and religious houses. In the cloisters, the armarium was often turned into a cupboard for books; and in the sacristy of the churches there was always a large or small armoire, fixed or movable, in which the prayer-books, missals, sacred vessels and holy-oil were kept. Some of these armoires are still in existence. A notable one of the Thirteenth Century is preserved in the upper sacristy of the Bayeux Cathedral.

Plate XLIX - Armoire. Lyonnais. End of Sixteenth Century

It is a huge, double-storied press of oak, both floors being divided into seven compartments. Each of these is closed by a shutter, working on strap hinges, the ends of which terminate in fleur-de-lis. The unequal number of doors opening alternately dos a dos presents one of those curious features of irregularity so frequently introduced by the mediaeval architect. With the exception of some simple finials the armoire is destitute of carving, but it has been painted with monkish subjects bordered with patterns in black, white and red, the greater part of which have now disappeared.

Armoires of this early period are much scarcer than coffers and chests, but there is another splendid specimen of this same period owned by the Cathedral of Noyon. The doors of this are painted within and without.

A fine armoire of the perpendicular style is preserved in the vestry of York Minster.

As the art of the cabinet-maker progressed, the armoire became one of those pieces on which much decorative work was lavished; and, instead of the panels being painted, they were now either carved or received the characteristic decoration of the period - the favorite linen-fold. At the beginning of the Sixteenth Century, as the bahut gradually disappeared as a piece of furniture, the armoire took its place; therefore, it was made in all sizes and forms and decorated in all styles as they arose.

The splendid examples of armoires in two parts, sometimes described as cabinets a deux corps, enrich many museums and private collections. It is not generally known that these armoires were frequently lined with rich silk or brocade, fastened down with small nails, which set off the beautiful objects kept behind the doors.

There are a few fine specimens of armoires in the Louvre; but Cluny owns a great number of superbly carved examples of this now rare type of furniture.

It has been said that the armoire of the Ile-de-France was generally higher than it was long, and that those made in Burgundy and the Midi were characterized by their greater width. The armoires of the Ile-de-France are also to be recognized by their architectural effect. The slender upper part develops into a pyramid. It has two doors in the lower part and two doors in the upper part, the latter flanked by small columns surrounded by vine or laurel leaves. To Normandv, M. Molinier attributes furniture in which the architecture and sculpture remain characteristic of the Ile-de-France but which is enriched with incrustations of ebony, generally in relief; and he cites a very fine armoire that belonged to the Emile Gavet Collection, which he thinks marks the period when the ebeniste succeeded to the huchier in making furniture.

The model of the Ile-de-France was imitated elsewhere, particularly in Lyons, where such large armoires a deux corps were made that they were frequently called buffets. One of Lyonnais workmanship on Plate XLIX. follows the traditions of the Ile-de-France in its form and ornamentation. The panels represent the Annunciation, the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi.

Plate L - Seventeenth Century Kas, or Armoire, from South Germany - Metropolitan Museum

In Languedoc, the huchiers were under the influence both the Ile-de-France and Burgundy; in other words, the style created by Jean Goujon and Du Cerceau was united in a sort of fashion by Hugues Sambin. The Burgundians inspired the artists of the Midi; - and so, upon this form of furniture, as in so many others, the sign and seal of various provinces and artists have been set.

Some of Boulle's most famous pieces were armoires; the Duke of Hamilton owned two magnificent specimens which were companion pieces; and the example in the Jones Collection, South Kensington Museum, made by Boulle for Louis XIV. on a model by Berain, is valued at £10,000.

Some armoires of the Louis XV. period are beautifully decorated with bronze ornamentation, the broad panels and doors relieved by flowers, foliage and groups of children or monkeys swinging or playing musical instruments.

The armoire of this period merges into the wardrobe with its two great doors behind which are shelves, drawers, or hooks for garments to hang upon.

In the Low Countries and in Germany, the armoire was known as the kas, or kast, two examples of which appear on Plates.

The great Dutch kas was very broad and very tall. It was made of ebony, oak, or walnut, and stood on four heavy, round balls, or feet, that were often called "knots." These were sometimes repeated on the top of the cupboard and called "guardians of the porcelain ornaments." The kas stood in nearly every room of the old Dutch house, - in the office, in the kitchen and in the living-room, as well as in the bedrooms. The kas was richly carved or inlaid, and made of both ordinary and rare woods. It was very heavy, architectural, and ornamental; and useful for preserving the choice articles of which the Dutch owned so many.

Plate L. shows the type of the great kas. It is nothing but a huge wardrobe with drawers or shelves behind the two big doors, which, in the example before us, are furnished with handsome locks. Beneath these are two drawers. This piece of furniture stands on six round, flattened, ball feet or "knots," and is handsomely decorated with ornaments recalling the style of Du Cerceau and De Vries. It is owned by the Metropolitan Museum, New York. Plate LI., also owned by the Metropolitan Museum, is similar in general form.

Upon the top of the great kas invariably stood handsome vases and jars of porcelain or earthenware. Some hasten were valued at enormous prices: a sacredaan cupboard, or a nutwood cupboard, or one made of different woods, or inlaid with mother-of-pearl, would cost as much as a thousand florins. Kas, of course, means case, which brings us back again to the case-of-drawers.

To the late Seventeenth Century (about 1690) belongs the case-of-drawers popularly known as the "high-boy." (French haut-bois.) At first, the tall chest of drawers stood on a frame, composed of six spindle-shaped legs connected by stretchers placed close to the floor. Sometimes the spindle-legs also terminated in large balls. Three drawers were, as a rule, placed in the frame, while the chest contained three long drawers surmounted by two or three short ones below the slab. As time went on, the "high-boy" was placed on a low case-of-drawers that was supported on cabriole legs. The style came in about the time that lacquer was popular and both "high boy" and "low-boy" were made of lacquer or "painted and japanned." On Plate XXIV. a "high-boy" is shown and on Plate LII. a "lowboy." Both examples are in the Metropolitan Museum and both have the old hoof-foot.

Plate LI - Seventeenth Century Kas, or Armoire, Dutch - Metropolitan Museum

The mahogany "high-boy," decorated with brass escutcheons and key-plates and surmounted by a scroll pediment between the break of which a china ornament was often placed, was a favorite piece of bedroom furniture in the Eighteenth Century. Some of these had ornamental tops, carved like the bookcases of the day (see Frontispiece).

The low case-of-drawers, called "low-boy," was very similar in form to the commode. The "bureau" of Marie de' Medici (see Plate LXVII.) shows remarkable likeness to it also. It was a dressing-table with drawers and was always used for this purpose. Sometimes the lower part of a high-boy was also used as a dressing-table; but this generally has but one row of drawers, while the "lowboy" proper is supplied with two rows. Below the central drawer in the top row a fan-shaped ornament is frequently carved. Like the "high-boy," the earliest examples of the "low-boy" are furnished with drop-handles, especially those made of mahogany, exhibit fine brass-handles and wing-shaped key-plates.

As the century advanced, the "high-boy" became more decorative. A fan or other ornament was carved on the top drawer, and the top was decorated with a swan-necked pediment, in the centre of which a slender vase was carved. Another favorite way of ornamenting the top of the "high-boy" was by placing on it three steps of mahogany, on which china was arranged. Handsome brass handles and key-plate brightened the sombre wood (see Plate LIIL).

These useful pieces of furniture, particularly popular in America, were made of cherry, pine and other cheap woods and then stained, as well as of mahogany.

Instead of the case-of-drawers being on a stand sometimes it was placed on a chest-of-drawers. It then becomes a chest-upon-chest or a double case-of-drawers. We find the double chest, or "high-boy," among the designs of Chippendale, who treats it much as the wardrobe, which was squarely built, or had a square top that rested upon a serpentine, or bombe, set of drawers. As a rule, the Chippendale high-boy has a slide fitted into the carcase, which is intended, when pulled out, to serve as a table for brushing and folding clothes before they are placed in the drawers. This slide is often mistaken for a writing-slab.