Object Type
A hatstand is an item of hall furniture with a number of pegs or arms attached to the upper half from which hats and coats can be hung. The lower half often had a rail and a removable tray at the base for storing umbrellas and walking sticks. Cast-iron furniture became popular in the 19th century. After the introduction of coke for smelting in iron manufacture in the mid-18th century, cast iron became cheaper and more widely available. It was also of sufficiently high quality to be used widely in architecture and decorative ironwork.

Design & Designing
The designer Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) distinguished between the different types of design suitable for wrought and cast iron. He regarded sinuous plant forms, some of which were influenced by Medieval, Byzantine and Middle Eastern sources, as appropriate for cast iron, which, when molten, can be poured into a mould. Such features on this hatstand include the acanthus scrolls at the base, which contrast with the more rigorous and geometrical patterns in the spandrels (curved arched supports).

People
In Britain the cast iron industry began to flourish from the 1770s onwards. Abraham Darby III (1750-1791) of the Coalbrookdale Company in Ironbridge, Shropshire, constructed the first cast-iron bridge in the world in 1779 to span the local river, the Severn. The family foundry became an established producer of a wide range of gates, grates and stoves and later furniture. By the 19th century the Coalbrookdale Company, which manufactured this hatstand, came to dominate the market, exporting its products all over the world.