An étagère is a piece of open furniture with a series of shelves, usually supported on slender uprights or columns at the corners, used for displaying ornaments, books, ceramics and other small possessions. The name comes from the French word étagère, meaning a shelf or set of shelves, and in English the closely related form is the whatnot. Unlike a cabinet, an étagère is not enclosed by doors or sides, so objects can be seen from all around.
The form developed in France in the late eighteenth century and became fashionable across Europe and America in the nineteenth century, when collecting and displaying small objects was a central part of interior decoration. Étagères range from small tiered tables placed beside a chair to tall corner and wall stands, and some include a drawer or a small cupboard in the base. They were made in mahogany, rosewood, walnut and other fine woods, often with turned or fretwork supports, gilt bronze mounts, galleried shelves, mirrored backs or marble tops, and in the Victorian period in elaborately carved and ebonised forms. Bamboo and lacquered examples followed with the taste for the Orient. Collectors look for original shelves, sound joints and good proportions. Étagères remain useful for displays of china and books.
