Antique French bedside cabinets and tables

Small cupboards, usually square or rectangular though sometimes round, designed to stand one on either side of a bed. They have been made since the 18th century, but true pairs are very difficult to find. In a genuine pair, the doors should be hinged on different sides, so that the cupboard opened away from the bedside. Small chests of drawers were also made as bedside pieces. Pairs of French bedside cupboards are much more common than English or Australian pairs, which even when part of a bedroom suite, were only made as singles. Most Victorian or Edwardian pairs of bedside cupboards that come on to the market, have been made up from the pedestals of pedestal dressing tables of the period, but due to demand the fact that they are not original does not diminish their value.