# Anyone able to identify this ghastly (but intriguing) piece of furniture? (Racially offensive) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156 "2022-04-02T17:52:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/1 "2022-04-02T17:52:30Z")
Long story short, we cleared out a loft (attic?) today and found this. Click on the photo to see the full image. [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/JltRrItS7bcdlV9gyVjn9fFeXHn6qPFQV67QWG08GSE6pxOe8wH6f7j3JlyIbI0qe3pWtCZHpxB8UKETDQ11V6EsIQNsIs9ocUAMbSAt0zC81tyQmX6ycU30pbOsmoUq1pb8c3IUCw=w600-h315-p-k "New item by j") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/sarZYhtxMLeXm2eR8) It’s about a meter tall, the figure is two dimensional (ie painted on flat board, both sides painted), and the odd T-shaped thing, which looks like it ought to be a movable lever, does not actually move at all, it’s fixed rigidly in place. Best guess is that it is _at least_ sixty years old. The loft we were emptying is forty miles south of London, England - but this may well be other-than-British in origin. My original thought was that the figure was African/African American; but looking at it now, possibly South Asian? My best WAG is that you are supposed to drape something - an article of clothing? - over the T, so it’s a bit like a liveried servant assisting you to dress. But the way it’s built, a heavy item of clothing would likely cause it to topple forwards. A tie rack, perhaps? Anyone recognize it? Suggestions? j ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/2 "2022-04-02T18:11:29Z")
I would guess it’s a hat stand, perhaps meant to be placed on a low table. The figure looks to me like an Indian bell boy. Here are a few 1920s single hat stands I found online: [![](https://i.postimg.cc/V6wnkYqM/il-fullxfull-2225003967-fjxn.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/V6wnkYqM/il-fullxfull-2225003967-fjxn.jpg) [![](https://i.postimg.cc/yNbKBTwS/image.png) ](https://i.postimg.cc/yNbKBTwS/image.png) [![](https://i.postimg.cc/VLvM6ZC7/51c44a00186a9432d33d9e5cc551096b.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/VLvM6ZC7/51c44a00186a9432d33d9e5cc551096b.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/3 "2022-04-02T18:11:42Z")
Poking around on google, I can find a lot of things with a similar style, sometimes 2D like yours and sometimes fancier 3D, but they are for ashtrays or drink trays. Nothing similar came up when searching tie racks. Towel holder, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/4 "2022-04-02T18:14:39Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Poking around on google, I can find a lot of things with a similar style Were those examples dated? It’s possible that this - uh - piece came to the UK via WW2 overseas travel. j ETA - and yeah, towel holder crossed my mind also - but it would have to be a small towel or there would be stability issues. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/5 "2022-04-02T18:18:27Z")
Hat makes sense from the point of view of weight, but I don’t see how it would work heightwise. Granted, I never previously saw a table hatstand, but this is a meter tall, remember. j ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/6 "2022-04-02T18:21:56Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Were those examples dated? Art Deco bellhop, circa 1930s: [https://www.antiquesboutique.com/antique-figures/art-deco-bell-hop-dummy-board/itm31536](https://www.antiquesboutique.com/antique-figures/art-deco-bell-hop-dummy-board/itm31536) Art Deco Mahogany Butler, also circa 1930s: > **[Art Deco Mahogany Butler Bellboy Card Tray Stand](https://www.antiques-atlas.com/antique/art_deco_mahogany_butler_bellboy_card_tray_stand/as155a611)** > > Designed to hold ones business or calling cards, the small circular tray supported by a stained and painted pedestal in the form of a negro serving boy in livery with applied buttons on a moulded rectangular platform plinth base. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/7 "2022-04-02T18:25:04Z")
Woah - that’s getting pretty close. Dates make sense too. £395? Noted. j ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/8 "2022-04-02T18:29:09Z")
Yeah, I was thinking bellboy: [![](https://assets-vinterior-0.vinterior.co/uploads/listing_image/image/896659/large_vintage-folk-art-bell-boy-tall-wooden-standing-ash-tray-display-stand_0.jpg) ](https://assets-vinterior-0.vinterior.co/uploads/listing_image/image/896659/large_vintage-folk-art-bell-boy-tall-wooden-standing-ash-tray-display-stand_0.jpg) [![](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/a4/11/bb/a411bb1bebabade529355fac9ee371a8--tourism-auction.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/a4/11/bb/a411bb1bebabade529355fac9ee371a8--tourism-auction.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/9 "2022-04-02T19:17:52Z")
I once bought my mom a Christmas gift similar in design to the figurines holding trays, except the one I bought was made to look like an English butler. I agree that the OP’s piece would be a good place to put your hat (or scarf). ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/10 "2022-04-05T15:58:38Z")
could the pole thing be an addition? it looks like he should be holding a tray not a pole. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/11 "2022-04-05T20:39:24Z")
Surprisingly, I have just had a (partial?) answer to this question. But I need to provide a little background here. The person whose loft we cleared is in the process of moving into a nursing home. It’s inevitable (the final domestic disaster hospitalized them for a month and could have killed them) but it’s not something they are able to readily accept yet. There are still the vestiges of that impossible dream of being able to “go back home”. So, as the resettlement slowly progresses, there are certain subjects which, on visits, you _ **cannot** _ discuss – including, obviously, anything which begins with “So, we cleared out your loft…” For this reason, we simply couldn’t ask what that weird object was. Except that one of the loft-clearing party did ask exactly that – and it was OK (!!). This object is (we are told) a jacket hanger – which I find surprising because it’s hard to see that it would be stable enough, but there you go The piece came from friends who owned an antique shop, and later emigrated to SF – what wasn’t clear (I had this second hand) was whether the piece was pre- or post the move to SF. I’ll see if I can get that clarified. (The best guess of \*at least 60 years old" was based on the assumption that it had been the property of our friend’s parents - not so. But it may be that old anyways, of course.) j ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/12 "2022-04-05T20:47:51Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > a jacket hanger – which I find surprising because it’s hard to see that it would be stable enough You’d also think that if it were for a jacket, it would be at least somewhat clothes-hanger shaped. That’s just going to deform a jacket. Maybe just a cheap and poorly made jacket stand, which might also account for lack of any consideration of stability. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/13 "2022-04-05T20:52:19Z")
I was thinking you could hang your umbrella or cane on that thing. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/14 "2022-04-05T21:39:59Z")
It’s barely tall enough for an umbrella or cane. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/15 "2022-04-05T23:17:26Z")
Yeah, looks like one of those bellboy flats (very common in the Art Deco era) that someone jerry-rigged into something else. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/16 "2022-04-07T02:25:04Z")
What is ghastly about it? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-able-to-identify-this-ghastly-but-intriguing-piece-of-furniture-racially-offensive/962156/17 "2022-04-07T05:49:00Z")
Well, a stereotypical depiction of an African servant holding a hat, jacket, umbrella or whatever. Isn’t that obviously ghastly?