A Wonderful Early 20thC Venetian Butler / Dumb Waiter Stand Formed as a Blackamoor

Origin: Venetian
Period: Early Twentieth Century
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1900-20
Height: 21.5 inches

Designed to hold ones business calling cards or tips from restaurant service, the polychrome painted Venetian wooden figure of a blackamoor modelled in standing pose with tasseled cap and necklace, holding on oval tray on rectangular base survives from the first quarter of the twentieth century.

The overall condition would be described as very good, the whole in very original order. There is a visible joint to left shoulder, slight rubbing to tasselled belt, losses to fingers and to tray, though he still retains much original paint.

An early example and one of real quality, this is a wonderfully imagined and rendered butler and certainly of the highest order in its class.