Every house has its small treasures, the cups too pretty to hide and the saucers too good for every day, and a shelf like this was made to give them a place on the wall. Found in Lille and dating to the early 19th century, it hangs on brass rings, three narrow shelves held between a pair of turned side rails topped with little finials. The turned rails and their finials were a bit of parlor finery, made to lift a small collection up onto the wall where it could be seen. It can hang in a kitchen for spice jars and bud vases, in a bathroom for soaps and little bottles, or over a desk for postcards, matchboxes, and whatever small things you cannot stop collecting.
