This skillfully framed, mirrored platform is one of seven sections of an oblong plateau that descended in the family of Martha Washington’s granddaughter, Martha Custis Peter. It may have been part of the “2 Sets Platteaux [$]100” listed in the Lumber (Storage) Rooms at Mount Vernon in the inventory taken after George Washington’s death. Placed down the center of the dining table, a plateau provided a reflective foundation for elegant arrangements of statuary, flowers, and candelabra during a formal meal. The carved galleries along the sides of this rare mahogany example imitate those of neoclassical silver and gilt-metal plateau of the late eighteenth century.