Panetière du Dauphiné in fruitwood, Directoire period, late 18th century

Delightful Dauphiné cherry wood pantier from the Directoire period
The front is adorned with a scrolled base rail with a carved Etruscan vase in the center.
The door is decorated with a large diamond shape
It is supported by a strong hinge
The upper crosspiece is scrolled and carved with a star in the center and 5 coils on the cyma.
The front and sides are adorned with turned spindle-shaped bars
The shelves are louvered
The top shelf and bottom are made of resinous wood, as was customary in the period.
Note: the keyhole is 19th-century, the lock and key are 20th-century.
Rear and front jambs end in turned feet
Breadboard ready for hanging: brackets present at the back
h: 93.5 cm
length : 92.4 cm
width : 44.5 cm
For info:
A panetière is a small piece of furniture used to store and preserve bread. Initially, they were simple cages suspended from the wall by two hooks, or clerestories hung from the beams of the house. Breadmakers as we know them have only existed since the 17th century. The earliest mention of it can be found in the municipal archives of Orange, dating back to 1620, when it was presented as "a simple openwork chest with bars and small feet" and rested on the kneading trough. On some panetières, the front is equipped with a door allowing the mistress of the house to introduce or take the bread.
This kind of tabernacle is characteristic of Provencal interiors, and its usefulness lasted until after the First World War, when bread - the mainstay of meals in those days - was still made by families every week, and baked either at home or in the communal oven. As it would last several days, it was essential to preserve it in the best possible conditions. Stand-mounted bread pans were placed on a low sideboard, the kneading trough, or more often hung on a wall, to keep rats and mice away from the bread. Even when mounted on a wall and detached from the kneading trough, it retained its feet and gained a decorative place.
It then became a piece of furniture with openwork bars, generally on three sides, and a carved door on the front, opening with a fitting worthy of a cupboard. The final characteristic is that it ends with feet, most often snail-shaped.

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