EARLY OAK FURNITURE in original condition can sell at auction for extremely high prices. The oak cupboard we have pictured, which dates from the early 1500s, made £65,000 in a recent auction.
It is called a livery cupboard and is the early equivalent of a fridge – a cupboard with pierced doors used to store food. Today we discard fridges without a second thought, and they also did that in the 16th Century; furniture like this was utilitarian and not considered precious, so few examples have survived – giving this fabulous piece a rarity value times tens of thousands…