The master of the house paces anxiously up and down the rows of long dining tables, set up in a meticulous fashion in the ballroom. Each place setting sparkles in the sun that streams through the floor-to-ceiling windows. As the sun sets, he begins pulling at his hair and stomping his feet like a child, where are his guests? He’s been planning this party to the point of exhaustion for months. Or rather, his butler has been, under his tyrannical master’s thumb. "It has to be perfect, it has to be better than the parties these swines throw," he said of the guest list.
The doorbell rings for an hour, almost constantly. But of course, the master can’t hear it in his secluded chambers, sobbing into a pillow. The butler was sent to the foyer to wait for guests, because the master does not answer doors, of course.
But the butler never made it to the foyer. He stopped in the hall to dust the bench once more. He’d never hear the end of it if the guests sat on a dusty bench.
When he reached to the top of the tall bench’s carved crown, the stretch turned into a yawn, turned into a rest, turned into a nap. The golden slumber was only a brief interlude from the duress of his master, who never knew of his butler’s nap.
The doorbell rings for an hour, almost constantly. But of course, the master can’t hear it in his secluded chambers, sobbing into a pillow. The butler was sent to the foyer to wait for guests, because the master does not answer doors, of course.
But the butler never made it to the foyer. He stopped in the hall to dust the bench once more. He’d never hear the end of it if the guests sat on a dusty bench.
When he reached to the top of the tall bench’s carved crown, the stretch turned into a yawn, turned into a rest, turned into a nap. The golden slumber was only a brief interlude from the duress of his master, who never knew of his butler’s nap.
Italy
circa 1880
82" wide x 21.5" deep x 89.5" high
seat height, 20" high
$10,500
