Kitchen Dresser

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The dresser was an important item of furniture in the traditional kitchen. This one is painted green and as is usual consists of two sections- the upper having two or three open shelves on which are displayed dishes and plates. On the front of the shelves, cups are suspended from cup hooks. The lower section is usually deeper and the top often forms a 'work top' for cutting bread and other small domestic tasks. The bottom of the dresser had no doors and was used for storing crocks of water or milking vessels. In some older dressers it was not unusual for a clucking hen or goose to be accommodated here during season. The carving of the lower openings of this dresser correspond to the carving on the dresser in the Mellon Folk Park Kitchen in Omagh, Co. Tyrone. Courtesy of Ballycastle Museum.