Art Deco Sideboards: Everything You Should Know

A sideboard isn't a very common piece of furniture in homes anymore, but it used to be indispensable. In houses with formal dining rooms, the sideboard held the plates, tableware, and linens for the table out of the way from the dirty kitchen. Sideboards were also a useful place to put serving platters. These days you can also find the occasional sideboard in a living room storing board games or extra bedding for guests. 

If you have a formal dining room in your home, it absolutely needs a sideboard to be complete, and we have several Art Deco-era sideboards in our current collection.

art deco sideboard image 1Let's take this piece first, a clearly Art Deco-era sideboard. How can we tell? First, the materials. The combination of black lacquer and chrome is a tell-tale sign that we are dealing with an item from this era. Note the strong geometric shape of each component, but with a central smooth curve to give it a bowed appearance. The edges of the cabinets, tabletop, and base are all lined with chrome. The extra parts on the end give more space in the side cabinets, but the extra chrome C's are purely to show off the beauty of the chrome.


art deco sideboard image 2This piece has been traced back to a Belgian manufacturer, and comes in a striking evergreen lacquer finish. Most sideboards will have two side cabinets and a larger central cabinet like the one in this picture. The feet of the sideboard are in black lacquer for contrast, and chrome is seen throughout. Note that despite having tiny chrome handles to open the doors, the designer also added two large chrome handles in a shape reminiscent of a chevron, a popular Art Deco motif.

art deco sideboard 3 image

This next piece is an exception to the standard design. This is a British Art Deco sideboard that has been traced back to circa 1932. While it still has two side doors, the designer decided to use a sliding panel for the central pocket. Note the rich exotic woods in the interior and on the exterior of the sliding panel, as well as the intricate bend of the doors to fit the curve of the feet. This piece is 23” deep, 65” wide, and 37” tall. Sideboards are designed to come up to waist height on most people.

Art Deco Antiques has a large variety of sideboards, credenzas, cocktail tables, and other pieces perfect for your dining room or bar. Browse our catalog to see a full selection of what we have to offer.