A bedside cabinet is a small piece of bedroom furniture made to stand beside a bed, giving a surface for a candle, lamp, book or glass of water and storage below. Most combine a top drawer with a cupboard, though some have a stack of drawers or an open shelf, and many earlier examples were designed to conceal a chamber pot, which is why the form is also called a pot cupboard or night table.
Bedside cupboards were made in England from the eighteenth century, when Georgian cabinetmakers produced neat mahogany examples, some with tray tops and pierced handholds or tambour fronts. The form became far more common in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, when they were often made as part of matching bedroom suites in mahogany, walnut, satinwood or oak, sometimes with marble tops that resisted spills. French tables de nuit and pine country examples offer simpler alternatives. When buying, check that the top and carcass belong together, that the interior has not been relined or fitted with later shelves, and that the drawers run well. Original handles, good colour and attractive figuring count for much. Pairs are scarce, so matched pairs are particularly prized for use either side of a double bed.
