The Norman wardrobe

“Dear wardrobe” – I simply want to repeat these words from Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard,” when speaking of the so-called Norman wardrobe. Of course, such wardrobes were made exclusively in Normandy, in northwestern France. But this type of traditional French furniture, unlike other regional styles, exists not only in Normandy, but throughout France and in other countries.
The Norman wardrobe is more than just a piece of furniture in a traditional French home. It has its own history and a special significance in the daily life of the French family.
At the time, this type of furniture was so famous that the expression "strong as a Norman wardrobe" has been preserved in French. However, the Norman wardrobe impresses not only by its size (which is very practical but no more than 240 cm high) or by its shapes and lines expressing strength and power, but above all by its elegant decoration, its rich sculpted decoration and, consequently, powerful, artistic way affirming life.
The Norman wardrobe as a type of furniture is already very old: its history dates back to the 18th century and the "golden age" when the Norman wardrobe was particularly popular, which was in the middle of the 19th century.
Surprisingly, over 70 traditional Norman wardrobe designs are known! Every town and village in Normandy created its own model, with unique carved compositions. Every 10 or 20 kilometers, there was a wardrobe whose decoration differed from that of the neighboring village.
For example, on our website, lot 4299 is a typical version of the "Cauchois" model, characteristic of the Pays de Caux – a limestone plateau north of the Seine (and we live in Yvetot – the capital of the Pays de Caux) – it's a Norman wardrobe with a cornice known as a "gendarme's hat" cornice. Each local model of Norman wardrobe has its own recognizable detail, and this originality is one of the wonderful characteristics of this antique piece of furniture.
If we're not talking about decoration, but structure, the structure of the Norman wardrobe hasn't changed; it has been perfected over the years and remains impeccable and incredible! This wardrobe structure, created without a single nail, is solid and impressive, allowing you to assemble or disassemble the wardrobe with only a small hammer and a large, blunt nail in 5 to 10 minutes! Every time we deliver these Norman giants, we gently remind their owners how pleasant and easy this "hard" work actually is!
The Norman armoire, as a piece of furniture in France, has long deserved special respect. Firstly, because it is a wedding armoire, a traditional gift from the father for his daughter's wedding, the richness and sophistication of the decoration of this armoire reflect the high social status of the family.
The decorative motifs were varied and always associated with the role of the family man; the attributes of his profession were sculpted into decorative floral arrangements: the most popular were bouquets of roses and rosebushes, bunches of grapes, and baskets of flowers; symbols of agriculture were also popular – tools for working the land, musical instruments – violins, horns, cellos, sheet music…
And the story of each wardrobe began the day a daughter was born into the family. On that day, the father chose and felled the strongest oak tree on his estate. Then, seven to ten years later, on the day of the daughter's First Communion, this oak was cut into planks and left to dry. Then, eight to ten years later, on the day of his daughter's engagement, the master cabinetmaker began his work. Thus, the tree was dried and aged for about twenty years before passing into the hands of a cabinetmaker. (This is where the impeccable quality of antique wardrobes comes from, the perfect fit of the pieces, and their strength!) The making of a wedding wardrobe took at least six months of continuous work (it is known that a master craftsman could not make more than two of these wardrobes per year!), and, as usual, the wedding day was chosen according to the wardrobe's availability.
It is worth noting that no one was allowed to see this wardrobe before the wedding, and it was only on the day of the celebration that the parents presented the Norman wardrobe to all relatives and guests in all its splendor as one of the main "characters" of the wedding celebration. And then, for many years, the newlyweds respectfully used this gift and passed it down from generation to generation.
To this day, in France, cabinetmakers who have preserved the secrets of ancient craftsmanship, but with modern tools and exclusively on commission, continue to create the famous Norman wardrobes. … But it is unlikely they have a 20-year-old tree to create those 150-year-old Norman beauties that we seek out all over France and are happy to showcase on our website (lot 4337-FR).