An Exceptional Quality Mid 19th Century Rosewood And Gilt Brass Étagère, Or Small Whatnot, Having Three Well Figured Rosewood Tiers Enclosed By Moulded Brass Bands, The Four Elegant Tubular Turned Upright Supports Headed By Foliate Cast Finials And Terminating On Original Brass Castors.

There are a huge variety of these low Étagères, or whatnots to be found on the market these days, mainly due to their incredible versatility in terms of their function.

This particular example is actually one of the best, of the best. It is square in shape, generally more desirable and practical than rectangular, a good, functional size and it is constructed using the best quality gilded brass, alongside highly figured rosewood veneers. Most importantly it is also a little earlier than most in terms of its construction date, which makes it much, much rarer than those from the late 19th century and early 20th century.

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.

Circa 1860.

Height 29in.
Width 15in.
Depth 15in.