PROBABLY PHILADELPHIA, MID-19TH CENTURY

During the mid-nineteenth century the étagère form was popular as the Victorian style dictated an interest in the public presentation of one's objects in the home: "The Victorian étagère, a large, tiered piece of parlor furniture designed to be placed flat against a wall, was the primary means of displaying the family's burgeoning collection of treasures" (Allison Leopold, Victorian Splendor (New York, 1986), p. 113-114). Displaying a series of six cascading shelves varying from small to large, top to bottom, this particular étagère would have been placed in the corner of the room.