Shaker Pine Built-in Dumb-waiter/Cupboard

Shaker Pine Built-in Dumb-waiter/Cupboard, possibly New Lebanon, New York, mid-19th century, the rectangular frame with beaded edge enclosing a vertically-sliding paneled door with two recessed, molded wooden panels, opening to a shelved interior, original dark brown stained surface, ht. 75 3/4, wd. 32, dp. 9 1/2 in. Literature: The Magazine Antiques , May 1979. Note: In the May 1979 issue of The Magazine Antiques it is reported that this unique piece was "originally built in, it combines an open cupboard with a dumb-waiter: the paneled door at the bottom slides up, and the set of shelves behind it could be lowered to the kitchen below." This article displays the dumbwaiter upside down as its functionality changed. Two similar, though larger, dumbwaiters are still extant in the 1830 Church Family Shaker brick dwelling at Hancock, Massachusetts. The North Family dwelling at Mount Lebanon, New York, also had a dumbwaiter used to bring food up from a cold storage room in the basement. Provenance: The Andrews Shaker Collection.