Is 'dumb butler' used as a phrase?

I’m Turkish and there is a name for the thing you put your coat on or scarf when you enter a house or office, dilsiz uşak. The thing is translated word for word as ‘dumb butler’. I looked it up in Turkish and a dictionary provided me with this translation. I thought it came from English to Turkish. But a google search on ‘dumb butler’ results in nearly nothing. Is that a real phrase or not? Thanks in advance!

Turkish version: dilsiz uşak sample image picture of a dilsiz uşak from an online Turkish shopping store


A closer connection to "dumb butler" might be a secondary definition for valet:

[Merriam-Webster]

Definition of valet (Entry 1 of 2)

1a : an employee (as of a hotel or a public facility) who performs personal services for customers

b : a man's male servant who performs personal services (such as taking care of clothing)

2 : a device (such as a rack or tray) for holding clothing or personal effects

Though they are more generally referred to as "valet stands" when you browse for them online, they come in many varieties - some with chairs, some with boxes for accessories - but all have the space to accommodate a coat (and possibly the entirety of a posh gentleman's outfit for the next day).

Men's valet stand

These are more likely to be found in a home as opposed to an office, particularly because they only meet the needs of one person and they are really more of a convenience, as if you had a very stationary butler or personal valet waiting on you hand and foot.


First, without any reference to objects or culture, the term 'dumb butler' is not an expression used in English (though it of course makes metaphorical sense).

The object and use you are describing sounds like a tall wooden pole, standing near the entry door, with hooks in a circular arrangement to hang coats or hats on it. It appears in the center of this image:

coat rack (from Blacksmith coat rack)

For possible expressions:

  • 'coat rack' is the most common way to say it in English (AmE at least). It's strange but 'rack' makes me think of a linear repeating set of hooks (like in the upper right of the image), rather than a vertical post with a circular ring of hooks, but words aren't always used literally.

  • 'coat tree' is very apt and I've heard it used informally and also by manufacturers, but is not that common.

Unfortunately, the image you provided looks nothing like the picture I gave of a coat rack. It could very well be a cultural difference, that two different kinds of construction of furniture are used for the same purpose (taking off hats, coats, and scarves coming in from the outdoors).