Why are so many sold in pairs?

Once bedrooms had plumbing and electric light, the bedside cupboard stopped holding a chamber pot and washing water and started carrying a lamp. Making them in twos to flank a bed followed. On Sellingantiques the pair is the default unit of sale: 1,685 of 2,526 titles say pair. Singles cluster at the bottom of the range.

What period do most of them come from?

The dated field runs from 1750 to 1960, with 1,814 listings carrying a clean year. The interwar decades dominate, the 1920s with 640 listings and the 1930s with 356. Earlier pieces are often given as ranges instead of years, so "19th Century", "Victorian", "Georgian" and "Edwardian" appear as era labels rather than datable dates.

Are French bedside cabinets common?

Yes. "French" appears in 765 titles, roughly a third of the category, and "french oak" alone in 161. French pairs in oak, cherry, walnut and mahogany, many with marble tops, make up the bulk of the middle range. Origins other than British or French are thin on the ground. Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Hungarian and Scottish examples turn up only a handful of times each.

What does a marble top mean on these?

It is a separate stone slab laid on the cabinet, standard on many French pairs. Marble is named in 194 titles, with "marble top" in 120 of them. Marble also shows up on Victorian mahogany cupboards, including one cabinet in the archive that houses a safe.

Which timbers turn up most often?

Mahogany leads with 648 titles, then walnut at 474 and oak at 373. Titles name the wood more consistently than they name the shape. The smaller counts are where the figured and exotic veneers sit: kingwood, satinwood, tulipwood, amboyna, coromandel, satin birch, and birds eye and fiddle-back maple.

How many come to market each year?

Around 161 listings a year, from a pool of 224 dealers. The range runs from a nominal figure at the very bottom to a Regency mahogany bowfronted pair at the top. Long runs of near-identical French oak pairs sit through the middle.

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Antique Bedside Cabinets

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Small bedroom cupboards, one- or two-drawer chests and little tables made to stand at the head of a bed, first for a chamber pot and candle, later in pairs to flank a bed and carry a lamp.