A William and Mary Period Side Table - Mid-seventeenth Century Oak Side table - A William III Walnut Card Table

Probably one of the most collected forms of antique furniture is the occasional side table which is both decorative and sometimes functional. Early forms of side table of the seventeenth century are perhaps a little too heavy, being mainly made of oak in ponderous design, but from the late seventeenth century onwards many delightful forms of games and side tables in prevailing fashions were produced.
Value points: The common value points for examples illustrated are:
1. Top Surface. The first thing to strike the eye is usually the condition, patina and decorative figuring or inlays of the top surface. The more perfect and decorative this surface is, the more the .. rating will apply.
2. Structural Condition. This must again be good, particularly where folding tables are concerned. The Georgian and Regency card tables usually had side hinges to the folding top and these are often the cause of
damage, leading to unsightly patching, replacement and alteration. The legs and stretchers, if applicable, must be sound.
3. Legs. Depending on the period, the design and always the proportion of the legs must constitute a very important factor in the assessment of a side or games table. Carving on cabrioles, or moulding of straight legs, affects value. Legs are, of course, always liable to damage and their originality with the above points, constitutes an  factor.
4. Handles. Where a drawer or drawers are involved, original period handles constitute a  factor.
5. Shape. Later Georgian folding card tables on tapering square legs in designs generally associated with Hepplewhite and Sheraton are affected by an important factor: the shape of the top. If this is circular when
open, i.e. half round when shut, a .. factor may be assumed. Tables which are oval, or with geometrical straight sides do not attract as high a price. On these tables cross-banding of the square tapering legs constitutes a  factor.
A William and Mary period side table, c.1690, of a type generally found in walnut, but also frequently decorated with marquetry. The serpentine X stretcher is also found on earlier tables, but the inverted   form on the turned legs is more generally associated with William who brought over Dutch craftsmen from whom this form originates. The legs would be in solid walnut whereas the top, sides, drawer front and stretcher would be veneered.
Walnut side table of the post ‘Restoration’ period, c.1680. The twist turning so popular to the Restoration period continued to be used on the legs and stretchers of tables though simple turning still persisted. Walnut was by far the most favourite wood though oak by no means went out of use. While the legs and bun feet are solid walnut, the top and drawer fronts are veneered. The veneered stretcher is ‘Y’ shaped at each end, connected by an oval widening  intended for a bowl. It is more
common to have one drawer only and the best examples would be inlaid with marquetry panels.
Marquetry - Walnut - Oak
Mid-seventeenth century oak side table, c.1650, with two drawers in the frieze. Note the panelled shape of the drawer fronts, reminiscent of
chests of drawers of the period. The turned legs and square stretchers are still retained.
A solid walnut side table of William and Mary period, c.1690, with arched shaping of the frieze below the drawer. The X-shaped stretcher is well illustrated and the heavy turning and bun feet are typical. Note the
thumb-nail top edge moulding.
Value points: Proportion and quality of leg turning  Shaping of frieze
Country side table in fruitwood of William and Mary period. The baluster turning of the legs shows later characteristics but the country maker has retained the square stretchers and construction from an earlier period.
Note the drawer fitting tight under the lock rail and the square, pegged tenon joints. This type of table was made well on into the late eight= eenth century.
Small oak side table, c.1675. The simple column turning of the legs and the stretchers is of the same type as the gate-leg table illustrated earlier. The top is fixed to the framing with oak dowel pegs. The two drawers fit tight under the top without a lock rail in the framing. Note that there are now simple bun-like feet under the square leg-stretcher joints, which lift the stretchers slightly higher off the floor. On original undisturbed
pieces the dowels protrude above the level of the surface (stand proud).
A William III side table, c.1700, inlaid with seaweed marquetry. The thumb-nail moulding is ebonised. The double-scroll legs of square secticn are particular to this period and not to everyone’s taste, but the stretcher form and flat bun feet are typical. Seaweed marquetry of this quality demanded a high degree of skill and such pieces are increasingly rare.
Quality and area of decoration
A William III Walnut Card Table, c.1700, the oval folding top veneered outside and inside with burr-walnut, cross banded and with herringbone lines, the shaped frieze with three small drawers, on six tapering
octagonal legs including two rear gate-legs, united by stretchers, and with turned feet.

Georgian side table - George I mahogany card table - George III mahogany gate-leg table

A George I mahogany card table, showing the candle stands and cups for counters similar to the walnut tables of an earlier period. The bold cabriole legs end in ball and claw feet and the shaped frieze has an echo of the shell motif about it. Tables of this kind in mahogany continued to be made into the second quarter of the 18th century.
George I period mahogany drop-leaf gate-leg dining table. The scrolled cabriole legs show the hoof foot with which the cabriole leg was originally associated, being derived from an animal form. Tables of this type, with less refined form of leg, leading to the square ‘Chippendale’ type as with chair development, continued to be made well on towards the end of the 18th century.
George I period table in oak, the tapering legs ending in pad feet.
A side table which could be put to use for cards or other occasional use. The space behind the frieze is used for storage.
George I period dressing table in fruitwood. The arched shaping of the frieze is similar to that of earlier periods, with the projecting lip moulding or cock bead around it. The heavy thumb-nail top edge moulding of the earlier period is now more refined. The tapering legs ending in pad feet are simpler than the cabriole but retain an elegance and proportion of design in a particularly English leg form.
George III period square drop-flap mahogany gate-leg table with scrolled cabriole legs ending in ball and claw feet. The moulded edge of the table top is unusual and is similar to that found on some Victorian tables, with the exception that this is bolder but still detracts from the appearance.
Value points: Quality of legs  Seating capacity 4.
A George II mahogany side table elaborately carved on the frieze with a lion mask and acanthus leaves. The cabriole legs have lion masks carved on the knees with ribboned flower heads and terminate in paw and ball
feet. The top is a marble slab.
Oak dressing table of c. 1740. The square section cabriole legs are still of slender shape but not the most desirable form, particularly if heavy. The shaping of the frieze has become much more sophisticated. Note the top edge moulding.
George III period oak gate-leg table with tapering legs ending in pad feet. A type of table made for a considerable period throughout the mid and late 18th century. This example is exceptional in size and therefore the centre section is particularly wide.
Later Georgian c. 1770 side table similar to the previous example, with elm top and fruitwood legs. Note there is no lock rail under the top. The square Chippendale style legs are chamfered at the back and the front
corners have the scratch moulding down the edge to lighten them. The drawer front is elm.
A later Georgian country dressing table in oak. The frieze is shaped, but the slightly tapered legs hint at Hepplewhite influence. The drawers are cock-beaded and the top edge has a rather refined moulding. Tapering legs tend to be a later feature.
Later Georgian side table of c. 1760. The ‘Chippendale’ straight chamfered leg has replaced the earlier pad feet. The top edge still shows a variant of the thumb-nail moulding but is heavier. As well as being chamfered on the inside the legs show a ’scratch’ moulding down the front corner, as seen on chairs, to give a further lightness to the effect. By now the lock rail is evident under the top and the
drawer thus comes below this. Country versions might still omit the lock rail however and have pegged tenon joints.
Later Georgian - c. 1770 - country dressing table in walnut and fruitwood. The three drawers in the frieze are cross banded in fruitwood like the top, which is veneered in plain straight grained walnut. The legs are elm.
Mid-Georgian drop-leaf table in mahogany of gate-leg type. The solid mahogany tapering legs end in pad feet. The main frame was often made from pine or else from oak and the centre flap secured to it by screws let in at an angle from underneath. A particular weakness with these tables is at the ends of the rule joints between flaps and centre, where part of the joint tends to split off. They make useful dining tables for the small modern home, since they can be folded awaybut their one defect is that of all gate-leg tables; there tend to be too many legs under the table when in use.
A George III country solid walnut side table on tapering legs ending in pad feet. The flap is supported when open by a gate leg. The top and flap are made of several planks.
A very fine quality Chippendale card table c. 1770. The edge of the frieze is gadrooned and this effect is followed down the corner edges of the legs. The edge of the top is also carved. The wood is mahogany.
A fine Adam circular table possibly for a centre or library use. The rosewood top has a wide satinwood cross banding inlaid with flower heads and cables. A large circular medallion in the centre is similarly inlaid. The
four round tapering fluted legs support the table, which has a frieze finely inlaid with satinwood urns, oval medallions and swags.
Value points: Quality of decoration

TABLES  side, lowboys (mainly cabriole leg)
Largely ignored in standard textbooks concerned with the development of furniture design is a delightful little group of tables which ranges from finely made town examples down (or should it be up) to enchanting small country fruitwood or yew pieces; these are eagerly sought after but are often impossible to prize from the hands of dealers in country furniture. We have reserved the term lowboys for three or four drawered side
tables often intended as dressing tables or for occasional use. As mentioned earlier, the dividing line between these and single drawer tables is often difficult to decipher. So we have produced this arbitrary distinction for the sake of convenience. On the question of fakes and improvements in general, little is done to these pieces. Some are veneered up which usually means walnut veneered top with oak legs or some other nonsense. However, when checking the underside note age on the bottom of the fretted front. It is not unknown for a large deep walnut veneered drawer front from an old bottom half of a tallboy to do service as a new front.
Rather more flashily veneered in high quality figured walnut. The cabriole legs are scrolled at the top and end in pointed feet. The form of drawers shows a variant, with a single long top drawer and two smaller ones
set beneath. The drawer edges are cock-beaded and there is an inlaid herring-bone line rather than crossbanding. The top is also quartered. c.1730
A solid walnut example with inlaid boxwood and ebony stringing lines. Note how a slight lip extends from one foot up the inside leg along the bottom of the carcase and down to the other foot as if emphasising the clean outline of the design. The cabriole legs are with shells and the feet show very interesting carved ‘folds’.
An attractive solid walnut example with good cabrioles all round, ovolo moulded drawer fronts and double half-round corners to the top (babies’ bottoms).
The bold brass handles are period if not original. As this a very good colour it is a desirable piece.
An example of the glorious individuality that British country furniture can provide and certainly one of the very few pieces of humorous furniture which exist. How else can one describe these legs but as `cobra cabrioles’ Apart from these extraordinary aberrations the piece has not too much in its favour. The arrangement of drawers makes it almost a writing table. c. 1730
A little cherrywood example. Note the same simple quarter-round moulding but ordinary corners. The drawer arrangement is unexciting and the cabrioles only just curve, nevertheless a pleasant country piece with glorious colour. Note the typical early decoration on the middle of the bottom rail. c.1740
The same top with half-round corners and tight quarter-round moulding of the period. This example is in oak and the cabrioles provide a problem; some collectors will find them attractive, others including this writer, will feel that they are poor-looking as though they have supported one of those large Chinese urns which weigh several hundredweights. Hence the wide price range.

TABLES  side, pad feet and square leg lowboys
In this section there are a lot of country or provincial pieces with the result that assessment of quality and hence value become more subjective than in the previous section. One may find a feature enormously attractive which to another collector has a glaring design fault. This is, after all, part of the fun of collecting but makes writing this section difficult.
In case anyone gets the idea that any cabriole is better than any pad foot this example will disillusion them. In pearwood with a glorious patination, attractive front fret and primitive drawer arrangement, it is a fine example of a country piece, the sort almost ignored up until the early 1960s. 1730-1740
832 In walnut with a quartered top and oval inlay in the centre. One immediately notices the broad deep ogee moulding which is a typical late walnut period feature. The legs are straight with only slight moulding on the
outside edge to relieve their rather dull appearance. One can see why the straight Chippendale legs are chamfered. c.1740
In terms of quality the Chippendale mahogany example deserves perhaps to come next. With a simple cock-beaded drawer arrangement, an attractive fret, and in a faded nut brown colour, this example is more elegant than the previous piece. The gap in the moulding is damage. c. 1760 Assume well restored.
n oak, turned legs with pad feet. It makes an interesting comparison with the next example. This has a better fret, half-round corners on the top (but not the quarter-round moulding of many of the pieces in the cabriole section). In addition the drawers fit better, but that may be condition rather than design. c.1730
A good wide overhanging top, genuine cockbeading and the side fret  in theory these should put this ahead of the previous example, but fail to do so because of the dull little fret. Notice that both examples have the
same type of moulding, a version as seen in 832, but of necessity flattened out as the wood is thinner; 832 is walnut veneered on pine which was cheaper than oak so that a deep moulding was more feasible. Knobs
here look later. c. 1755
1, 000Back to the Chippendale straight leg with a slight moulding to the outside edge. The drawers are marked with an incised line in an attempt to simulate cockbeading.
The charming fret makes it a much more attractive piece. c. 1755
The neo-classical demand for the tapered leg has not helped this heavily designed oak piece (which incidentally could be the best technically constructed piece in this section). Frankly not very desirable; 1780-1810
This example is, however, slightly smaller than the previous piece but the top has no moulding and the front is a little plain. The front incidentally is made out of two pieces of wood, a fact which does not necessarily
detract but does indicate a less generous attitude as demonstrated by the mean fret. However if it had superb patination all would be overlooked. c. 1735

TABLES  side, early, single drawer
We have separated out lowboys or dressing tables and have defined them as having three or four drawers, while side tables are defined as having one or at most two drawers.
The types are clearly related but side or centre tables are found well back into the early seventeenth century. However, for collecting purposes (i.e. availability) they start towards the end of the seventeenth century.
A charming fruitwood side table from the end of the seventeenth century with the typical column-shaped turnings that one associates with the mid-century. The square stretchers and thick top are also part of this design. However, the ogee fretted frieze indicates a later date. c. 1680
A superb olivewood oyster veneered side table with walnut spiral twist turned legs. The wavy stretcher is veneered on the top and the facing edge. This is a classic piece of the period. Note how the design is nearly identical to that for a chest on stand, and indeed one does see well-turned side tables with very poor tops (i.e. disposed stands often partly rebuilt), but this superb geometrically laid pattern could never have been intended for anything else than a side table top. c.1680
Moving on a decade, this marquetry piece with well-turned legs shows a later form of stretcher arrangement, one that country makers seemed to prefer to the last example; at any event it was widely copied. Note the inverted acorn in the turning near the bottom of the leg. The quality of the marquetry  of green stained bone and other warm colours  is important. c. 1690
Perhaps the country variant of the twists, though attractive, are only mere imitations of the original. c. 1700
An oak variation of 841. One is tempted to say country, but the turnings are excellent quality, bold and imaginative: only the earlier type of moulding round the drawer front suggests that it was made out of the fashionable area. c. 1700
An exuberant bobbin-turned stretcher structure derived from earlier pieces, c.1660, but the thick top with shallow moulding is of later date. A very popular design. c. 1690
A William and Mary design of crossover stretcher with slightly less interesting (though by no means bad) turning. One feels that the maker got into a mess at the bottom of the last round and didn’t quite see what to do so left it. He could perfectly well have repeated the top pattern at the bottom if he had measured correctly before he started. Thick moulding on top and below drawer. c. 1710
A much simpler fruitwood version of 845. Here the stretchers are of the normal type. The top and mouldings are very much the same and so is the date. c. 1690
Shows a delightful walnut table of very high quality both in design and execution, with cabriole legs of exceptional form in which the feet are ’stepped’ and the top contained within a fold backed by a scrolled shoulder under the frieze. The drawer is inlaid with an ebony and boxwood stringing line and cross-banded in cherrywood. c. 1710
An oak table cross-banded in walnut on the top and drawer front. The cabrioles are very pronounced and end on pointed feet. The shoulder pieces fit in well and the piece has a strong sturdy look without being over muscular. c. 1740
Shows a simpler, but still very high quality, version in cherrywood throughout, with cabriole front legs ending in pad feet and having a scrolled carving inside the knee. The drawer has an ovolo lip moulding and the back legs are the straight pad-footed type. A simple cross-band, also in cherry, decorates the edge of the drawer and top. c. 1720
A high quality example in dark Cuban mahogany. Notice how the cabrioles are just that bit more
restrained when compared with the last example. (By comparison with which, incidentally, it will weigh more than half as much again). The C scroll is well designed and executed and small carved decoration is
appearing above it. Notice the quarter round moulding we saw in the lowboy section on walnut, early for mahogany. The frieze could be more exciting. c. 1740
The introduction of the cabriole leg affected all furniture and, as we have seen with the lowboys, many interesting and very collectable examples were made. The development in design is predictable and clearly seen.
A country elm piece which fails to excite. The legs are chamfered and the moulding is a broad quarter-round which is repeated on the outside of the leg. In burr elm with a good deep rich colour one might treble the price.
A pad foot example with frieze, the drawer is scratched around the edge to look like cockbeading which suggests a date a shade later than the piece might otherwise be. c.1740
New classical elegance, serpentine front and tapered legs. A reasonable quality example, almost Hepplewhite  see the small square near the bottom of the leg which is a typical feature. c. 1780
Clearly from the restrained turned legs and the moulding a product of the early nineteenth century. In this design restraint is still the keynote; is there, one wonders, just the slightest hint in the tulip-shaped top of the leg that ‘things’ might soon be happening. c. 1800

TABLES  side, pier and console
We join side, pier and console tables together because they are both rich man’s furniture. Once furniture was treated as part of the architecture of the room, say with Adam and the neo-Classical movement onwards, such tables were used to decorate formal reception rooms.
A console is a piece of furniture, without back legs, which is screwed to the wall. It is not unknown for some suitably flamboyant small Regency table to get sawn in half to make a pair of Regency consoles. A pier table is a rich man’s side table a pier being the gap between two windows  and above it one found the pier glass to help reflect as much light as possible. Again the table had to fit in with the general architectural scheme. They are now fairly rare and expensive pieces. We give a small selection below.
A richly carved mahogany table in the style of William Kent, supporting a heavy marble top which it does without obvious effort though with a considerable show of muscle. Without the charm of the previous table it is, none the less, a most impressive piece and a pair would be very much more desirable.
Faded and finely grained mahogany half-round (or in terms of this sort of furniture semi-elliptical) pier table. Sheraton decoration, good tapering leg. c.1790
A giltwood semi-circular pier table with a gouache painted top of very high quality depicting classical scenes. Slender tapered, reeded legs. The frieze with a simple but impressive line of interlinking circles with flowers inside. Clearly a piece of this kind, which is one of a pair, has to be valued very much in terms of the quality of the painting. c. 1760
Not strictly speaking a console table because it is free standing but often described as such. The scene ‘Dolphin on the Rocks’, is a common one and lends itself to decorative excesses. Carved wood gilded with an important painted hunting scene by a known artist. c. 1740

Side table

1. Grain running from side to side of table top.
2. On solid woods, considerable figuring where timber was split rather than sawn.
3. Back edge of table top sometimes unfinished, with no overhang.
4. Drawers of oak, carcase wood of oak. Pine drawers or other parts of carcase in period piece indicate Dutch origins.
5. Where there is
featherbanding and herringbone inlay, `arrows’ always go clockwise.
6. Simple lip moulding to three sides of table top.
7. Beam moulding to drawer edges made from a single strip with wood grain continuing through each bead.
8. On walnut tables, signs of worm boreholes in solid timbers — walnut is particularly susceptible to worm.
9. Good patination on sides. and top edges of drawer where it has been pulled out and handled constantly.
10. No lock or lock rail to drawer frame.
Likely restoration and repair
11. Legs restored, replaced where worm damage has ruined originals.
12. Original veneer planed down to the oak carcase beneath: no depth of patination on surface woods.
13. Solid walnut tops replaced: signs of worm-tracks indicate timber planed down from thicker piece of different origin —wormholes only show on surface of wood.
14. Solid walnut with little patination, wrong construction: may be Victorian copy
`distressed’ to look older.
15. Made up from larger table in bad state of repair. No
patination on overhang of table top — oddly placed boreholes and marks on underside.
16. Legs repaired or replaced: grain will break on the join —quite often concealed by ring turning.
Historical background
By the beginning of the seventeenth century there was much more ’standing’ furniture in most houses. In particular, side tables came into use for many different functions. They stood in spaces between windows, against walls with side chairs, and were used as an early version of the ‘dressing table’.
The art of twist turning came to England from Spain and the Spanish Netherlands, together with the fashion for embellishing cabinets and the edges of drawers with ’string of beads’ mouldings in ebony or ebony-coloured woods. Sometimes legs of small decorative tables were of a much darker wood than the rest of the piece.
The cup-and-cover shape of table and cabinet stand legs, although principally associated with the arrival of William of Orange in England, had been used for several decades before, from the furniture imported from Holland. At about the same time the art of veneering transformed both the construction and the appearance of English furniture. Side tables span this revolutionary change, being made first in solid woods with twist-turned legs, and later in quartered veneer with serpentine stretchers. Stuart side tables frequently had one full-width drawer in the frieze.
Construction and materials
Side tables, being small pieces of furniture, were made in a much wider variety of woods than large tables. They are found in oak, fruitwood, plane and, occasionally, Cyprus. At a later date they were made in solid walnut, and in walnut veneer on an oak carcase and underframe.
Most side tables had a single drawer in the frieze, with one or two handles. Drawers were either plain-fronted or with small fielded or coffered panels, contemporary with chest of drawers of the period. Their construction was still based on the solid frame, with stretchers between all four legs, either decorative or plain.
Around 1680 the cup and cover shape of legs with serpentine stretchers, similar to those on stands for chests, were quite common. There is always a good overhang on three sides of the table top, and the back edge will be narrower, for side tables were made to stand against walls and in
Variations
These traditional ‘occasional’ tables were made in a variety of shapes, woods and finishes for 100 years or more and the differences in construction, woods and finish rather than stylistic change are the guide to period. Characteristic country-made versions may be of plain oak with square stretchers and no carving or decoration. Others had a semi-circular flap and a plain gateleg on a wooden hinge, opening to an elongated half-circle. Some are found in plain oak with a simple frieze and no drawer. Nice examples can be found in fruitwood, sometimes with a small drawer in the frieze which does not recesses, and the back stretcher is plain, undecorated and flush with the edge of the back.
The timber of the legs continues up to form the side frame of the frieze drawer and the corners of the frieze. All joints were simple mortise-and-tenon, secured with pegs or dowels. The drawers had through-dovetails or stop-dovetails, with the bottom boards running from front to back in more than one piece. The bottom boards were nailed to the sides with clout nails and a simple rebate joint.
Detail
Early walnut veneer was usually quarter-cut and framed in a broad band of cross-cut veneer, sometimes edged with feather-banding or herringbone with mitred edges.
Drop handles usually had rosette-shaped backplates fixed to the drawer fronts with two steel shafts driven through and splayed and flattened on the inside.
run the full width of the piece. Dutch side tables, imported during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, were veneered or decorated with marquetry and had double-twist legs. Generally they were more elaborate than those in the English style and were usually made on a pine carcase with pine drawers.
Left: plain oak table of the late seventeenth century.
Centre: William and Mary oak table with pierced decorative frieze.
Right: an elaborately decorated table of the Stuart period.
Reproductions
Nineteenth century
The most common ones on the market today are of Victorian oak, recognizable by decoration such as carving on the frieze, twist turning, polished and darkened to age the wood.
There are also solid walnut copies, stained and bleached where the stain has rubbed off or faded. Many reproductions are in oak, elm, and Virginia walnut, with straight legs or later machine-turned balusters, bobbins or twists and flat stretchers, from almost any date from c.1830. They were made as little side tables for use in passages, halls and dining rooms.
Spanish, Portuguese and Italian tables with ebonized legs, string-of-beads moulding around the drawers, simulating the style of tortoiseshell and ebony chests and cabinets, were imported in large numbers during the mid-Victorian period.
Price bands
Stuart oak, with frieze drawer and good turned detail, £1,900-2,200.
William and Mary oak with good detail, i1,500–1,800.
Country, period, oak or fruitwood, c.1700, £500-800.
Nineteenth-century oak copies, 050-500.