Antique French Wardrobes between £0 and £0
A tall French standing cupboard, panelled and usually two-doored, built to hold clothes and folded linen in rooms that had no built-in cupboards.
What Is A French Armoire?
Three quarters of the titles on Sellingantiques use the word armoire, and what sits behind that word is consistent: a tall panelled case, one or two doors, standing free on its own feet. The form goes back to the 17th century, when clothes and linen had nowhere else to live, and regional cabinetmakers went on making it in local timbers through the 18th and 19th centuries.
Oak dominates the timber, named in 99 titles, with walnut and mahogany behind it. Carved is the most common decorative word, and carved oak appears together in 40 titles. Painted cases are the next big group, 60 titles, with grey tones and eau de nil named. Interiors are mostly left unstated: a hanging rail is called out in only ten titles.
The dating runs late. Of the 277 listings with a clean year, 200 fall between 1880 and 1929, and 79 of those are 1920s. Only eight are marked 18th Century, and the earliest dated entries are 1780. Another 56 say just "19th Century", dealer shorthand for a span rather than a year. Louis XV and Louis XVI turn up in titles, but generally as "style", on cases dated 1890 to 1920.
Away from the single- and two-door norm, 30 titles say triple and 13 breakfront, wider cases for bigger rooms. A run of provincial pine wardrobes, 15 titles, advertises that the case dismantles flat for moving. Linen presses and clothes presses, fitted with shelves or trays instead of a rail, make up a small group of about a dozen.
Top And Bottom
Timber sets the floor and the ceiling. Plain pine, 29 titles, sits at the bottom of the range. Walnut and mahogany sit above it, and the showy timbers that appear once or twice each, rosewood, satinwood, kingwood, amboyna, tulipwood, burr walnut, birds eye maple, plum pudding mahogany, sit at the top and nowhere else.
Carving is in 81 titles, and it splits the range rather than lifting it uniformly. Shallow panel moulding is ordinary; the upper half reaches for ornate work, grand proportions and the occasional named regional carving. Scale pulls the same way, with large in 44 titles, and triple and breakfront cases running wider than the standard pair of doors. The two heights stated in titles, 7'6" and 8'2", both belong to the upper half.
Applied decoration lands almost entirely above the middle: ormolu in nine titles, plus marquetry, brass inlay, gilt bronze mounts and marble tops, each in single figures. Above all of that sit matched pairs. Pair appears in just nine of 360 titles, in painted, carved oak and unspecified finishes, and those occupy the very top.
Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical UK retail prices for french wardrobes between £0 and £0, calculated from the Sellingantiques database of over a million retail prices indexed since 2003. This retail price guide relies exclusively on Sellingantiques data; no external sources or auction records are used, so the figures do not describe the wider market.
Matched pairs are the rarity. The word pair turns up in just nine of the three hundred and sixty French wardrobe titles on Sellingantiques.
The Antique French Wardrobes between £0 and £0 Glossary
- Armoire
- The French tall standing cupboard for clothes or linen, and the word used in three quarters of titles in this category.
- Triple
- A three-door wardrobe, usually wide and often breakfront. Thirty titles use it.
- Breakfront
- A case whose centre section projects forward of the sections flanking it, named in 13 titles.
- Linen press
- A press fitted with sliding shelves or trays for folded linen instead of a hanging rail. Twelve titles.
- Dismantles or knockdown
- Built to come apart into flat panels for moving, advertised in 15 titles, almost all provincial pine.
- Bonnetiere
- A narrow single-door armoire, tall for its width. It appears twice.
- Marriage armoire
- The provincial armoire made to hold a bride's linen, sometimes carved with emblems. Three titles use marriage or wedding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are most French armoires actually 18th century?
No. Only eight of the listings are marked 18th Century, and the earliest dated entries are 1780.
The weight sits much later. Two hundred of the 277 cleanly dated listings fall between 1880 and 1929, with 79 in the 1920s alone, so half the dated stock is 20th century.
What does a Louis XV armoire mean in a title?
Twenty-one titles use the word Louis, but most read "Louis XV style" or "Louis XVI style".
Those cases sit in date fields of 1890 to 1920. The name describes the shape and the ornament, not the reign it was made in.
Which timbers turn up most often?
Oak leads by a distance, named in 99 titles, and carved oak appears together in 40 of them. Bleached oak is a recurring finish on the 1900s to 1920s cases.
Walnut follows with 49 titles and mahogany with 42. Pine accounts for 29, mostly the provincial wardrobes.
Rosewood, satinwood, kingwood, amboyna, tulipwood and birds eye maple each appear once or twice.
Do these wardrobes come apart for moving?
Fifteen titles say the case dismantles or is knockdown, and almost all of those are provincial pine.
It was a practical piece of joinery that has become a selling point in its own right. The rest of the category makes no claim either way.
How many French wardrobes come up for sale?
Sixty-four dealers have listed them on Sellingantiques, and around twenty-five come to market in a year.
That makes it a steady category rather than a scarce one, with 360 titles behind the figures.
What painted finishes appear in the listings?
Painted appears in 60 titles, about a sixth of the category, making it the second big group after carved oak.
Titles name plummet grey, downpipe grey and eau de nil. Two describe the paint as original.