On my recent lazy, meandering, antiquing trip to Lexington, Missouri, I came across this beautiful little German mini spice cabinet. It was found in a little store on the outskirts of town and trust me when I say there was NOTHING interesting in the store but this. (Think vintage furniture, the ugly stuff.) I was ready to leave until the store employee showed me two more rooms to the store than I had realized. It was in the last room that I came across this little nugget of fabulousness. The price was steep; I had some work to do.
German Spice Cabinet with Porcelain tile and six drawers
After some casual chatting with the store’s only employee, I decided to make an offer. Beings as how I know nothing about cabinets like these, I was really guessing at what I thought was “fair”. After some fourth-party (me to employee to wife on phone to husband working in the yard) dickering over the phone, we settled on a price and I hit the road with my new treasure. The 45-minute drive home was longer than usual, as I couldn’t wait to sit down in my office and do some research on it.
Here’s what I know: these little spice cabinets used to be a thing. When? Well, that’s where I’m fuzzy. Similar cabinets claim to date from as early as the late 1800s, but I just can’t verify that for mine. They’re also called baking cabinets I believe.
Whereas they were popular, they are again. Decorators love epothecary cabinets, and anything else with a thousand little drawers. I know this because they’re hell to find in the rough. I saw an old metal card cabinet (like you would see in libraries growing up) at an estate sale this past weekend; it was gone within an hour, and it wasn’t cheap.
This cabinet is made of wood, has one cabinet door with a porcelain vented tile in the middle. It was covered in a grease/dust mixture that equated to glue, but cleaned up nicely. Inside the cabinet is a shelf, which looks to be original.
There are six drawers: Paprika, Gewurz, Pfeffer, Zimt, Kumel and Nelken. They are white porcelain with black lettering, black frilly scrolls on the sides and a pretty little image in the middle of each of the silhouette of a woman with a parasol. It includes just the right touch of blue to make the whole piece sing.
Close-up of German Spice Cabinet Porcelain Drawer
I did find a lot of fabulous antique cabinets in my research though that I fell in love with. Aside from mine, I think I like the metal ones best.
What do you think?
German Spice Cabinet with Porcelain tile and six drawers
German Spice Cabinet with Porcelain tile and six drawers
Close-up of interior cabinet of German Spice Cabinet with Porcelain tile and six drawers
Backside of Porcelain Tile in German Spice Cabinet with
German Spice Cabinet Porcelain Drawers: Paprika, Gewurz, Pfeffer, Zimt, Kumel, Nelken
Close-up of German Spice Cabinet Porcelain Zimt Drawer
Moxy Rants 