Article: Butler identity invokes a mystery

Antiques

Butler identity invokes a mystery

By RALPH AND TERRY KOVEL

Cowles Syndicate

Sunday, December 2, 2001

Few of us have a butler today, but in the 18th and 19th centuries, every well-to-do family had a large house, several maids, a cook and a butler.

Furniture and serving pieces used primarily by the butler were often identified by name. The "butler's cabinet" was a chest of drawers with a top that rolled back to reveal stored utensils. It was a form used from about 1780 to the 1830s.

The "butler's sideboard" was a small sideboard that had a center drawer fitted as a desk, so the butler had an office in the dining room when the family was not at dinner. Another piece, the "butler's ...

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