Q. 1. What is the purpose of the casket stand?

A. 1. A casket stand is a stand on which is placed a corpse, coffin, or casket containing a corpse. The casket is placed on this object to lie in state or to be carried to the grave.

A "casket stand" is also known as a "coffin stand" or a "bier."

Traditionally, the casket stand was made out of wood but sometimes of other materials. Being bulky, often without wheels, it served a limited purpose. Most of the time, coffins had to be carried by a number of persons.

In antiquity it was often a wooden board on which the dead were placed, covered with a shroud. In modern times, the corpse is rarely carried on the bier without being first placed in a coffin or casket, though the coffin or casket is sometimes kept open.

The modern funeral industry uses a collapsible aluminium bier on wheels, known as a "church truck" to move the coffin to and from the church or funeral home for services.

Biers are generally smaller than the coffin or casket they support for reasons of appearance. As a result, they are not particularly stable, and can tip over unless well-centered and undisturbed.