Definition of "credenza"

Two credenze dating about the middle of the century, shown in Figures 135 and 136, illustrate the stage of excessive ornamentation of furniture reached about this time.

1918, William M[acdougal] Odom, A History of Italian Furniture from the Fourteenth to the Early Nineteenth Centuries, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, page 202

The furniture consists of many fine small and large cabinets, credenze and tables, all especially alluring and of unusual types not very frequently found today; […]

1925, Frank H. G. Keeble, “Foreword”, in Italian Renaissance Furniture, Sculptured Bas-Reliefs, Primitive Paintings, Maiolicas, Brasses, Forged Iron, Velvets and Other Textiles from the Studios of an Eminent Florentine Antiquarian (A Collection of Florentine Renaissance furniture and Objects of Art), New York, N.Y.: American Art Association, Inc.

A recessed top story containing a cupboard was added to many credenze in the 16th cent. and this was usual in subsequent periods.

1960, Helena Hayward, editor, The Connoisseur’s Handbook of Antique Collecting: A Dictionary of Furniture, Silver, Ceramics, Glass, Silver, Fine Art, Etc., New York, N.Y.: Galahad Books, page 86, column 2

It was as if Belonging lay in some ivory-inlaid credenza in the[sic] Hague, waiting to be opened before expiration date.

1995, Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2, New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, page 19

I wandered over to his record collection, past his mantel displaying mid-century lighters, past his closet filled with trench coats and shoehorns, past his credenza stacked with pamphlets.

2022, Ling Ma, “Yeti Lovemaking”, in Bliss Montage, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux