Mid-19th Century French Empire Carved Painted “Tabernacle” Wall Cabinet
$1,600
About
This elegant and petite antique vitrine was crafted in France, circa 1860. Originally used as a tabernacle in a church or chapel, the hanging cabinet features a dome top over a single door decorated with turned columns on each side. The door embellished with arched raised panel opens and reveals inside storage. The Empire style cabinet is in excellent condition commensurate with age and use, and adorns a rich beige patinated paint finish. A perfect small display cabinet for a powder room, a bathroom or any other room for a collection of some sort. Key and lock included. A tabernacle or a sacrament house is a fixed, locked box in which the Eucharist (consecrated communion hosts) is stored as part of the “reserved sacrament” rite. Within Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and in some traditions of Anglicanism and Lutheranism, the tabernacle is a box-like or dome-like vessel for the exclusive reservation of the consecrated Eucharist. It is normally made from precious metals, stone or wood, and is lockable and secured to the altar or adjacent wall to prevent the consecrated elements within from being removed without authorization. These denominations believe that the Eucharist contains the real presence of Jesus, and thus use the term tabernacle, a word referring to the Old Testament tabernacle, which was the locus of God’s presence among the Jewish people. Measures: 21.5″ W x 13.5″ D x 26.5″ H.
