Cupboards were essential items for any early modern home. A house like New Place was certain to have several cupboards of different styles and uses. This livery cupboard follows a simple, functional design. The bottom section contains an open shelf that could be used to both store and display larger objects. The upper section consists of a closed cupboard with doors. Each door is decorated with a cross and could be secured with a lock and key. Small holes have been pierced into the doors, possibly for ventilation. This suggests it originally function as a cupboard for food storage or linens. The top surface may have been used to display objects or to serve food. In wealthier households, the cupboard might also be covered in a richly decorated carpet to enhance its appearance.

During the 1500s people began spending more on their homes and the objects that filled them. Prosperous citizens were buying domestic goods as a means of demonstrating their status by the time Shakespeare moved to New Place in 1597. As demand for household objects expanded, so too did the methods used to store them. Cupboards of various shapes and designs emerged during this period, but the livery cupboard remained popular well into the 1600s. Although gentlemen like Shakespeare would have been keen to purchase more modern types of furniture, they would have also possessed numerous traditional pieces.