An Extremely Attractive Mid 19th Century Victorian Burr Walnut & Walnut Étagère, Or Small Whatnot, Having Three Superbly Figured Rounded Tiers With Attractive Inlaid Decoration, United By Elegant Turned Upright Supports With Baluster Turned Tapering Legs And Original Brass Castors.

A wide variety of these 19th century low Étagères, or whatnots can be found on the market these days, as they are very popular items indeed, mainly due to their incredible versatility in terms of function and the great elegance which they can add to many settings. But of course with variety and volume in design comes discrepancies in quality and construction. As a general rule the earlier in date the better the article, but this is a little bit of an exception as it is lovely quality and very well made indeed. Although it is not stamped or signed we feel it could well have come from the workshops of Holland & Sons or similar.

It is a very good example of its type and although of typical form it boasts great elegance. It’s also a good, practical functional size and it is constructed using exceptional quality, superbly figured walnut veneers.

The word Étagère is derived from the French word for a set of open freestanding shelves and although in England the term Whatnot is much more common the two phrases are pretty much always interchangeable these days, although more often than not you will find that the term Whatnot is used to describe larger variations of this design, whereas Étagère will be used to describe this smaller variants.

As with all the items we offer for sale it has been inspected and attended to in our workshops by our well trained and highly skilled, specialist antique furniture restorers and it has received a natural wax polish to ensure it is presented for sale in the absolute best possible condition meaning that it ready for immediate placement within the home.

Circa 1860.

Height 29in.
Width 20in.
Depth 14in.