I found this small etagere/whatnot/dresser thingy.
It's 27" tall by 9.25" wide by 7.25" deep. It's walnut, with a beveled mirror, small drawer with original pull, and a carved crest featuring two urns with flames (one flame broke off long ago). Guessing ca. 1880.
In years gone by someone attached a wire hanger to the back. It seems too delicate to hang, like it could easily fall, and if it didn't, the things on its shelves surely would.
So what would its use be? The asymmetrical crest makes it look as if there would have been another one to go with it, but in all my years antiquing I've never seen another one.
Would it have gone on a dresser as a kind of supplement to the drawers and shelves, like in the photo below?
Would it, in fact, have hung from a nail, with another one a foot or two to the right, flanking a mirror, perhaps?
The bottom is flat, so it seems that it should have rested on something equally flat. Dunno.
And what would you call it?
