Curiosity Cupboards or Cabinets made their first appearance back in the sixteenth century.

The Cabinets sometimes took the form of spacious closets or even entire rooms but most often appeared as free standing Cupboards constructed from fine woods.

These Cupboards were elaborately sectioned into shelves, drawers, partitions, and niches. Since many of the compartments had to be opened in order to reveal what was inside, this gave their contents an additional sense of mystery.

Today we think of these as mostly grotesque, strange and oddly dark but they were originally comprised of statues and architectural fragments uncovered through excavations of Roman ruins that were conducted between the years 1450 and 1550. These collections soon after proliferated into a bewildering diversity of objects.

The personal museum was born.

Collectors of Curiosities had a passion for collecting everything from artifacts to anatomical oddities to plants to fossils. Some collectors concentrated on coins and medals, others on zoological and botanical specimens, and still others on books and manuscripts. There were collections of sea shells, minerals, playing cards, cryptograms, watches, mathematical instruments and automata (math related curios).

By the early seventeenth century, catalogues were being published and fashionable trips abroad arranged for the sole purpose of journeying from one collection to another.

So no matter what you love to collect your in great company and may you have a most fascinating and curious cupboard.
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This started as a shop for some of my mothers collections.
My Etsy shops

CuriositiesCupboard.Etsy.com

AkitaWoodWorks.Etsy.com