Bay Colony Antiques is proud to offer for sale one of the most unique, and visually striking dictionary stands that we’ve had the pleasure of offering throughout our extensive careers. These also make great sheet music stands, and their wide bases make them nice and stable. The book rests can be adjusted in angle & width, and the telescoping center rod allows the height to be adjusted so this can be used by all ages in a sitting or standing position. We handle a fair amount of Lambie & Stevenson stands every year, but don’t believe this was made by either maker. We couldn’t locate a makers mark anywhere on the piece, just a “pat appld for” stamp on the adjustable mechanism. Lambies & Stevensons were manufactured around 1880-1900, but we suspect this one may be a little earlier because of the simpler mechanism and the fact that they weren’t mass produced. At some point in the stands life, it was masterfully tole painted. The painted surface covers the entire base & mechanism, and even the thumb screw was painted to match showing the attention to detail that went into painting the piece. We believe the paint was done very early on in the stands life, and for it to be in such good condition after over a century of use is quite remarkable. With no other comparable stands that we’re aware of, we opted to just price this the same as our more common dictionary stands. We believe the stand was made in either Chicago or New York, and if one were able to identify a specific artist's hand, we wholly believe the stand would double, if not triple, in value. While others have a slightly more sophisticated mechanism, they were also produced in much higher numbers and not decorated with such a beautiful tole painted surface. The stand measures 21” wide at the base x 21” deep x 49 1/2” tall at the highest setting and 34” tall at the lowest setting. The book rests measure 8” wide x 11” tall. With never having seen an example quite like this, we would urge any interested parties to reach out to us because we can't confidently say we'll ever encounter another one.
