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A sideboard, also called a buffet, is an item of 
The earliest versions of the sideboard familiar today made their appearance in the 18th century, but they gained most of their popularity during the 19th century, as households became prosperous enough to dedicate a room solely to dining. Sideboards were made in a range of decorative styles and were frequently ornamented with costly veneers and
A sideboard, also called a buffet, is an item of furniture
Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating ( tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks) ...
traditionally used in the dining room for serving food, for displaying serving dishes, and for storage. It usually consists of a set of cabinets, or cupboard
A cupboard is a piece of furniture for enclosing dishware or grocery items that are stored in a home. The term gradually evolved from its original meaning: an open-shelved side table for displaying dishware, more specifically plates, cups and s ...
s, and one or more drawers, all topped by a wooden surface for conveniently holding food, serving dishes, or lighting devices. The words ''sideboard'' and ''buffet'' are somewhat interchangeable, but if the item has short legs, or a base that sits directly on the floor with no legs, it is more likely to be called a ''sideboard''; if it has longer legs, it is more likely to be called a ''buffet''.
The earliest versions of the sideboard familiar today made their appearance in the 18th century, but they gained most of their popularity during the 19th century, as households became prosperous enough to dedicate a room solely to dining. Sideboards were made in a range of decorative styles and were frequently ornamented with costly veneers and inlay
Inlay covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with th ...
s. In later years, sideboards have been placed in living rooms or other areas where household items might be displayed.
In traditional formal dining room
A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically the dining room is furnis ...
s today, an antique sideboard is a desirable and fashionable accessory, and finely styled versions from the late 18th or early 19th centuries are the most sought-after and most costly. Among its counterparts in modern furniture styles, the form is often referred to as a ''server''. Some of the earliest production of sideboards arose in England, France, Poland, Belgium and Scotland. Later, American designs arose. Characteristic materials used in historic sideboard manufacture include mahogany
Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus '' Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: U ...
, oak, pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...
, and walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
.
See also
*Buffet
A buffet can be either a sideboard (a flat-topped piece of furniture with cupboards and drawers, used for storing crockery, glasses, and table linen) or a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners serve ...
– a way of serving food, rather than the item of furniture
* Cellarette (liquor cabinet)
* Chiffonier
* China cabinet
* Credenza
* Hutch (furniture)
* Madia (furniture)
* Sideboard (Edward William Godwin)
* Welsh dresser
References
External links
* {{cite EB1911, wstitle=Sideboard Furniture Serving and dining