Cupboard for warming up plates

This mysterious item was probably no longer used at the end of the nineteenth century. It was readily applied in the eighteenth and nineteenth century for warming the plates on which meals were served in chilly dining rooms. Dishes placed on warm plates cooled slower, and thus preserved their flavour. A cupboard, in the shape of a cylinder and with wide-opening doors, was easily moved thanks to the wheels installed in its base. It quickly became hot owing to the flame of a spirit burner in the shape of a ring, standing on supports at the bottom of the cupboard. The opening visible in the walls provided air indispensable for maintaining the flame. Two shelves installed inside the cupboard could contain at least a dozen plates. After conservation, the cupboard will be returned to the exhibition presenting the palace kitchen cupboard storage area, testifying to particular concern for the comfort of the guests.