c. 1525

Dresser (Dressoir or Buffet)

As a furniture type, dressers developed in the late-medieval period from a desire to store and display precious vessels and tableware, and became a permanent piece of presentation furniture in noble and well-to-do households. On this object, the carved decoration combines two styles: its older, distinctively canted shape, the incorporation of medieval panels that mimic the folds of linen (at the rear of the lower opening and on the sides), and variously decorated columns topped by fanciful dragons; and a newer, Italian-influenced style with heads within wreaths and ornamental panels inspired by ancient Roman art.