Etagère

In the late 17th century the fashion arose for embellishing affluent interiors with large quantities of porcelain. It stood on mantelpieces or on scores of consoles on the wall. Sometimes it was literally stacked up, as on this étagère, assembled of 17th and 18th-century Chinese and Japanese porcelain at the end of the 19th century. This late example of the custom is sometimes also called a ’dumb waiter’.