MORE GERMAN SPICE CHESTS

As a result of the sudden death of my new Sub-Zero (a painful and expensive death), I gained more display space above my new refrigerator and decided it was the perfect opportunity to expand my collection of German spice chests.

  I decided to be particularly choosey with any purchases and to wait until the nicest examples came up for sale.  This one in cherry fit the bill.  I had never seen one stencilled before.  It is also in old German script, which is one of my criteria.

 

 

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          This one in oak is particularly charming with the carved top piece. 

 

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I was thrilled to find this large walnut wall cabinet with little porcelain signs in old German script and pulls fashioned out of bone.  However, it didn't occur to me until I took this photograph that the cabinet may be for medicinal herbs rather than kitchen spices.   It does have a drawer for fennel (Felchen), but the other drawers are not your typical cooking spices -- lilac, for instance.  I must ask Maria and Dieter their opinion.  Germans typically had apothecary chests similar to this in their house, although this is a particularly fine one.  Nonetheless, it will hang in my kitchen along with my other spice chests!

 

     Although this spice chest has no porcelain labels (only porcelain knobs), I love it because of its fine grain painting. 

 

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