How many tiers do these stands usually have?

Three is the norm. Fifteen titles say "three tier" outright, and the tier itself is named in 37 of 124 listings. Two-tier and four-tier stands both appear, and the mirrored plateau forms are a single platform rather than a stack.

What wood are they made from?

Mahogany, more often than anything else. It appears in 55 of 124 titles, which is more than any period word in the category. Oak comes next with eight titles, and walnut turns up behind that. Satinwood appears twice, both times well up the range.

Why do so many fold flat?

Because they were made to. Folding frames let the stand be stowed away between meals rather than left standing in the room. Folding appears in 27 titles, and the current stock leans that way more than the sold archive does. Patent folding, collapsable and folding swivel all describe the same idea.

Are there any branded or named types?

Two. The titles record "The Monoplane" and "Monopole", both folding stands, and nothing else carries a trade name. The Monoplane examples reach the upper part of the sampled range.

What periods do these cake stands cover?

Dealer dating runs from 1850 to 1930, with 72 of the 124 listings giving a clean year rather than an era label. The weight sits at the turn of the century: Edwardian and 1900s each account for 28 listings. The 1910s, 1920s and 1930s each hold about a dozen, and Victorian eleven. Only four listings sit before 1870.

Which unusual examples turn up in the archive?

The one-offs include a bakelite folding stand, a blackthorn stand, a beadwork "tea fancies" stand and a cane-and-mahogany example. Origins outside England are thin on the ground: an Anglo-Indian pair, a Hoshiarpur tiered stand, a French three-tier and a German mirrored gateau centrepiece, one each. Eight listings describe lacquered or hand-painted chinoiserie, all of them in the sold archive.