Wardrobe

The earliest wardrobe was a chest, and it was not until some degree of luxury was attained in regal palaces and the castles of powerful nobles that separate accommodation was provided for the apparel of the great.

The word has gained coinage over successive generations as an independent store for among others, preserving precious items for a ruler like gold, well highlighted in King Edward I's times.

In the nineteenth century, the wardrobe began to develop into its modern form, with a hanging cupboard at each side, a press in the upper part of the central portion, and drawers below.

As a rule, it was often of mahogany, but as satinwood and other previously scarce, fine-grained, foreign woods began to be obtainable in considerable quantities, many elaborately and even magnificently inlaid wardrobes were made.

Where Chippendale and his school had carved, Sheraton, Hepplewhite and their contemporaries achieved their effects by the artistic employment of deftly contrasted and highly polished woods.

The next to last step in the evolution of the wardrobe was taken when the central doors, which had previously enclosed merely the upper part, were carried to the floor, covering the drawers as well as the sliding shelves, and were often fitted with mirrors.

Kas, kast, or kasten (pronounced kaz) is a massive cupboard or wardrobe of Dutch origin similar to an armoire that was popular in the Netherlands and America in the 17th & 18th centuries.