555 - Valet stand, wood, clothes hanger with top rail, box and trouser holders, gentleman's valet

Valet stand, wood, clothes hanger with top rail, box and trouser holders, gentleman's valet Wood, red-brown, valet stand. At the top a transverse rail on two short turned supports, below a curved clothes hanger with shaped shoulders. At half height an intermediate shelf with a box mounted on it, the lid hinged on one long side with two hinges. Two round bars between the two side uprights. Turned side uprights on curved floor runners, these joined by a round stretcher. Three cross bars between the floor runners missing, resulting in limited stability. 115x43.5x38.5 cm (HxWxD). The valet stand is a piece of furniture for keeping men's clothing overnight; it carries a clothes hanger and storage surfaces, some versions additionally trouser holders in which the trouser legs are clamped between two panels. The name Herrendiener (gentleman's valet) is also common for this piece of furniture. A valet stand with a box such as this one combines the wardrobe function with a lidded storage compartment. Dumb waiters are already documented in antiquity, though there as tray and candle bearers; an early example is the Xanten Youth, a Roman bronze figure from the later 1st century BC that served as a tray bearer.