Adjustable reading stand, of mahogany and brass, on tripod base, with plain pad feet, the hexagonal pillar support extendable, the reading surface adjustable for angle on a semi-circular brass arm.

Adjustable reading stand, of mahogany and brass, on tripod base, with plain pad feet, the hexagonal pillar support extendable, the reading surface adjustable for angle on a semi-circular brass arm.
The legs, on three brass castors, are tenoned into the base of the pillar, possibly with loose tenons, and the joints are reinforced on the underside with a three-pronged iron plate. The base and shaft of the pillar are plain, decorated only with a stepped section on each foot, close to the base of the pillar, and with mouldings at the base and top of the pillar, those at the top outlining a brass-covered frieze section. An oval brass handle on the back of the shaft activates a spring catch, which allows the square-sectioned adjustable extension to the pillar to be raised, This is cut on the same side with a dozen slots, into which the spring catch can be located, allowing the stand to be set at a variety of heights. The mechanism that raises the extension is controlled by what looks like a large clock winding handle, on the opposite side of the shaft from the oval brass handle. The top of the shaft is located on the underside of the leaf of the reading stand, between two deep, attached battens of mahogany, set crosswise, each attached with two large screws, the ends rounded. Short metal rods extend from the side of the extension to locate within the battens. One of the battens is fitted with a quadrant of brass, inset into the inner face of the batten and attached to a bolt that passes through the extension tothe pillar. This is attached with a large butterfly nut that allows the quadrant to be moved to alter the angle of the reading desk. The quadrant is pierced with two long, central reserves, which locate with a washer on the other side of the pillar extension from the wing nut.

Bequeathed by Claude D. Rotch

Bequeathed by the collector Claude Rotch. See Registered Files 61/3157C

This sturdy reading stand was made in the second quarter of the 18th century. It is of fine quality mahogany and elegantly proportioned, but is relatively plain, suited to the sober fittings of a gentleman’s library, at a time when libraries were largely seen as places for use by the male members of a fashionable household. Such adjustable furniture became popular from the 1730s in Britain and its making may have been encouraged by technical developments in the metalworking trades, which supplied the hinges, ratchets etc. The design of this stand is close to one shown in a large engraved sheet, which may have been a trade card for a maker, or the frontispiece to a series of engravings of furniture. That sheet (V&A Museum No. E. 2320.89) carries the name ‘Potter’, possibly (but not certainly), Thomas, who is known to have been working in London from 1735-1738.

W.83-1962