English, 1750-1800, Rotch Bequest, 89/293

A dumb waiter in three tiers, made up of three circular galleries trays decreasing in size from bottom to top, with a central column, and supported on tripod feet. The galleries each have a rail supported by vertical turned baluster supports. The Central column is turned, with addition whorled knobs at the base of each section. Each tripod foot terminates in a simple pad foot, fitted with small casters.

Bequeathed by C. D. Rotch

Rotch bequest, File ref. 82/293. The first piece correspondence between Mr Claude Rotch, London, and the V&A Museum is dated 26 October 1932 and continued until Mr Rotch’s death in October 1961. During his lifetime Mr Rotch gave several significant pieces from his collection to the Museum, including a Chinese Ming procelain figure, a pastel portrait of an unknown man in a blue coat, by J. Russell, R.A., a Chinese plate, K’ang Hsi (1662-1722) and an earthenware tureen in Rococo style.

Claude Rotch bequeathed an extensive collection including 138 pieces of furniture, as well as ceramics, carpets, engravings, silver, paintings and drawings. At the time the total valuation given was £65,345.10 0d. In December 1962 the V&A opened a display of ‘The Claude Rotch Bequest’, which it described as: ‘The most important single gift of English furniture in the history of the Museum’. Press coverage of the exhibition included pieces in The Sunday Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph, The Financial Times and The Observer.

'Dumb waiter' was a contemporary term used from the 1720s for this type of stand, sometimes shortened simply to 'waiter'. Dumb waiters were used to support food and drink during meals. The designer Thomas Sheraton, in 'The Cabinet Dictionary', which he published in 1803, described them as 'a useful piece of furniture, to serve in some respects the place of a waiter, whence it is so named'.

This object is on loan to Sewerby Hall.

W.70-1962