Adjustable reading and writing table (pupitre à crémaillère, servant de table) ca. 1760-65 Attributed to Martin Carlin French The tulipwood-veneered reading-and-writing lectern of this accommodating piece of furniture can be tilted forward and backward by pressing a button in the brass housing of the lectern, the sleeve of which fits over the top of the notched steel rod. A brass ratchet mounted to the underside of the tray engages the notches of the rod and allows the height of the lectern to be adjused for use from either a seated or standing position. With the lectern fully extended, the piece becomes quite top-heavy, and the spreading, double-pronged feet of its beautifully ornamented tripod base are intended to prevent it from tipping.Several variants of this stand exist; the closest of these belonged in the eighteenth century to a noted collector of decorative arts of his time, Louis-Marie-Augustin, duc d'Aumont (1709-1782). At the sale of his effects in 1782, a stand was catalog