Regency Rosewood Sofa Table - A Sheraton Mahogany Pembroke Table

Pembroke tables are said to be named after the Countess of Pembroke who first gave orders for one of them. It seems they first appeared about 1750 and were generally made in mahogany. They do not seem to have
really caugla on until after 1780, when they were made with square tapering legs and followed Hepplewhite or Sheraton designs. The flaps on either side are supported by hinged wooden brackets. A drawer is usually
to be found opening at one end while a mock drawer is put at the other to give design balance.
Sofa tables are similar except that the flaps are at the ends of the table instead of the sides. Sheraton referred to the normal dimensions as being `between five and six feet long and from twenty-two inches to two feet broad!’ The most serviceable type have two drawers and they were frequently used to write, draw or read upon.
1. Top Surface. The condition, patina and figuring of the top surface is very important. The more perfect and decorative the top surface, the more the  rating will apply. Exotic inlays and cross-banding in satinwood,
zebrawood or other prized veneers usually constitute  factors.
2. Structural Condition. Due to their rather elegant but more fragile construction, large numbers of Pembroke tables on the market have been damaged at Borne time or another. Usually it is a leg joint or loss of a caster
which causes the trouble. The rule joints to the flaps should be examined for patching because these tend to be damaged in the same way as those on gate-leg tables. Prices shown assume sound structural condition.
3. Legs. Design and proportion of legs is important. On Pembroke tables, cross-banding of the square tapering legs can constitute a  factor.
4 Drawers. A Pembroke table without a drawer  we illustrate one — is considered a severe disadvantage from a value point of view.
A Thomas Sheraton mahogany Pembroke table, the top cross-banded with herringbone bands of kingwood, with a rising ‘Harlequin’ section with a fall-front inlaid with ribboned festoons of flowers in scorched and green fruitwood, in the manner of Pierre Langlois, the frieze with a drawer either side and simulated drawers, on square tapering panelled legs.
The design for this ‘Harlequin Pembroke Table’ was published by Thomas Sheraton as plate LVI in his ‘Drawing Book’ (1791-94). In his notes he describes such table as “serving not only as a breakfast, but also as a writing table, very suitable for a lady. It is termed a Harlequin Table for no other reason but because, in exhibitions of that sort, there is generally a great deal of machinery introduced in the scenery”. This type was also illustrated in Hepplewhite’s Guide .
This table is of further interest in that the ’till’ is inlaid with a floral garland, knotted with a ribbon-tie, in a marquetry of many woods. This is reminiscent of the highly distinctive style of inlay favoured by the emigrant French ebeniste, Pierre Langlois.
A country mahogany Pembroke table, c.1780, in heavy Cuban wood and with no drawer. The square chamfered legs owe more to the Chippendale influence than the tapering variety normally associated with this type of table. A simple and pleasing version.
The example above of c.1790 date is perhaps one of the finest of the fine: in satinwood, with marquetry inlaid, and cross-banded with rosewood. It is on square tapering collared legs and the marquetry inlay consists of urns and naturallistic festoons of flowers.
Good quality Pembroke table in mahogany with cross-banded top edge, c.1790. The tapering legs end in elegant brass casters.
Value Points: Cross banding of top  Circular or oval shape
A Sheraton mahogany Pembroke table of c.1810, The square tapering iegs have given way to the centre pedestal, the pillar of which is fluted. The four sabre style legs which support the platform at the pillar base have typical later Georgian and Regency brass casters of decorative style. The
top is veneered in highly figured mahogany and cross-banded with satinwood, which is used for the inlaid decoration also.
A rather broad mahogany Pembroke table with slightly tapering legs of c.1790. The solid top is of a particularly finely figured wood and there is a broad boxwood stringing line under the cock-beaded drawer which is continued across the leg.
A fine quality late eighteenth century  c.1790  sofa table in mahogany and satinwood. The end supports, curving elegantly out from the vertical to end in brass casters, are particularly noteworthy.
Regency sofa table, c.1810, in mahogany with lyre-shaped end supports. The top edge is moulded as well as cross-banded.
Note. The existence or hint of the lyre motif in any form inexplicably pushes prices to the top of the range.
Mahogany sofa table of later Georgian period, c.1800. The reeded curved legs on the end supports terminate in brass paw casters.
Regency sofa table with gadrooned top edge, c.1820. The curving splayed legs on the end supports are reeded.
The sofa table above is of c.1805 date and has brass mounts and stringing. The inward curving legs are reeded. Rosewood and zebrawood were used for higher quality examples as well as mahogany. The addition of brass stringing or more detailed inlay in brass adds considerably to value.
Exotic woods and inlays …
Sofa table of slightly later date c.1810 with turned supports in conjunction with inward curving legs. This form of centre support is to be found on card and other tables of the period and is never valued as highly as the end-supported type.
Regency rosewood sofa table, c.1820, the top and flaps cross-banded in satinwood. The stringing which can be seen round the drawer fronts is of brass, and brass stringing is also used on the top and in the unusual
curving support and base. The table when extended is five feet long. The semi-elliptical support under the top is highly valued by dealers.
A library or writing table of c.1820 with turned legs on casters. The three drawers are cock-beaded and the handles are typical of those used from 1780 onwards. In this case the top is solid mahogany, but leather tops are also common.
Regency rosewood library or rent table, c.1810, with octagonal revolving top inset with tooled leather. The inlaid stringing lines are of brass.
A Victorian library table of c.1850 with a leather top. The table is of oak, with drawers at each end and false drawers in the frieze at the sides. The cabriole legs are carved with flower decoration at the knee and leaf
decoration at the foot. Similar tables for library and writing use are made in mahogany or walnut.

TABLES  sofa, pillar supports
The final group of sofa tables is the one in which there is a central pedestal. These pieces are therefore linked with pedestal dining tables, for the same type of base was often used.
In mahogany and remarkably similar to a design in zebrawood which can be dated exactly to 1810. The pillars are well turned and the decoration of split beading lines (fine around the drawers, slightly greater round the platform) is restrained. White stringing line is also used. The table edge is reeded and there is a thin line of crossbanding on the top. c.1810
Another example with four pillar turning in which the knee has moved towards the peculiarly high Regency form. The piece is in rosewood and the pillars are well turned. A small amount of split beaded decoration and metal mounts on the leg. More cramped and not quite the quality of the first example. c. 1815
An example which illustrates the desire for show at not too much extra cost, and a type that became an obsession later on. Simply cut on a band-saw these solid mahogany supports are reeded to match the feet. The top, too, has the customary reeding around the edge and is cross-banded in the same wood. Not as good as it looks at first sight. c. 1830
Down to two pillars. The same ringed decoration marks the place where the top of the legs don’t pierce the platform. The turning on the pillars is getting somewhat aimless  a series of rings and the odd bulge, not like the careful baluster form of the first two examples. c. 1830
Equivalent to the previous example with a straight-sided pillar. Again plenty of brass inlay and some ebony in the leg which turns with the characteristic sharpness of the period.
As can be seen, it has high decorative quality, but the drawback is its being mahogany.
When restored
A very simple example where the decoration is confined to a modest black stringing line on the side of the legs and a broader band on the top of the legs and the table itself. The two unimaginative rectangular pieces supporting the top affect the value. c. 1825
A bit of light relief. The vast base, heavily gadrooned, is supported by an equally substantial humanised version of the ball-and-. One would expect the top to be about 8ft. long, but in fact it is a normal sized sofa table, again gadrooned in calamander wood. The misalliance is condoned by two very elegant and beautifully reeded vase-shaped pillars with rims. It was sold at auction by a very knowledgeable specialist firm, so it must be right. Early 19th century
A robust turned and heavily carved centre pillar rosewood table. Plenty of brass inlay and a Regency knee with good stylised design. The edges of the table have a very refined beading. Rich effect without undue ostentation.

TABLES  sofa, vertical supports and stretchers
The sofa table is a variation which was evolved from the Pembroke table and gets its name from its intended application, namely, to stand against a sofa. It is therefore long and thin with flaps at the end, whereas the Pembroke is squarer in shape, and so popular did it become that it gradually superseded the Pembroke. Although considered a typical piece of Regency furniture, the sofa table did in fact become popular at the end of the eighteenth century.
There are two distinct types, first those supported each end by a vertical member  or end standard as it is called  in a variety of forms and secondly, those with a central pillared support standing on a flat base which in turn rests on feet. The pillared support can of course vary considerably.
A high quality mahogany table, with satinwood cross-banding and satinwood veneered legs and cross-stretchers. The legs sweep out naturally from the end standards. There are false drawer fronts on the far side. The piece shows the late-Georgian restraint one associates with pre-Regency designs.
c. 1790The early Regency has set in, but with equivalent quality and restraint in design. The piece is veneered in rosewood and the flap supports are carved with Egyptian heads and wings a la Thomas Hope of 1820  the heads being fixtures. The legs still sweep elegantly out of the end standards but the feet make a vertical ’stop’ in the curve not seen in 864. c. 1800
The high leg of the Regency is seen clearly in this fine satinwood veneered piece which is cross-banded in rosewood. The classical motifs are inset in ebony and it is very good quality. Satinwood obviously helps the price, as does good grain arrangement. c. 1810
A satinwood veneered attempt which is somewhat less successful than the first two examples. The end standard is wider, making the feet look small. The veneer runs in fairly strong straight figures across the top and the legs in a way which conflicts with the striped ebony and boxwood stringing lines on all the surface edges.
The variations in end standards can be considerable. This form, the lyre, is seen on a mahogany table which is otherwise a fairly plain piece. The main alternative form of lyre is a reversal of the form shown here. With a brass strip, this, if genuine, helps the price considerably. There is an ominous line towards the right-hand side of the near flap. If this is indeed a patch, take 20% off the price. c. 1820
A plainer form of the previous example with simple reeded end standards terminating in carved paw feet. The sole decoration is the light coloured stringing line. c.1825
For convenience we have sub-divided vertically supported sofa tables into a). the earlier types, mostly without stretchers, shown on these pages, and b). those with stretchers, generally later or not always such good examples (see next section).
A fairly typical (if there is such a thing) Regency reeded leg support. The dramatic wedge-shaped end standards meet in a large circular centre section, with turned decoration, which looks like an oversize draught.
An example veneered and cross-banded with mahogany. There are lengths of plain gadrooning attached to the bottom of the frieze and around the leg supports; this and the rather aimlessly turned pillars would suggest a later date, while the solid legs with the inset line an earlier one. It has the same strange arch support as 867. c. 1830
Not a conventional sofa table but it relates to the next piece so well that, logically, it falls in here. This table is breathtaking: superbly light in appearance, the reeded, tapered cross-shaped supports are perfectly executed. Compare the reeding on the legs of 758. The use of gilt and ebonised decoration is restrained and the more effective, for one’s eye is drawn to the carved bandage by which the middle stretcher appears to be tied at the ends. It relates to a known type. c. 1800
A further crash down on the quality scale and yet still a good sofa table. The design is successful if a trifle thick on the moulded legs which terminate in attractive unusual castors.
The melons () which support the table are attractive as is the leaf carving beneath them. The top with reeded edges is in plain mahogany. c. 1830
Next come sofa tables with end standards and stretchers. These can be sub-divided, as can be seen below, into those with cross-stretchers and those with double pillars. One of those sections in which quality varies dramatically. Condition, too, is important. Patches on the top affect prices dramatically.
A finely figured mahogany example in which mid-Regency classical motifs are used lightly. It has good, small, inturned paw feet  a device which surprisingly enough works, and lion head handles. The cross-shaped curving supports, beautifully reeded with stretcher to match, shows Thomas Hope’s influence at its most felicitous. c. 1805
Double pillar rosewood, turned to give a slight bamboo effect. It is in rosewood with metal mounts both on the edge of the legs, between the pillars and on the fronts. The top is selected veneers cross-banded with satinwood and ebony stringing lines between them. c. 1810
A very pleasant spirally turned mahogany example. Brass inlay on the leg and a simple satinwood stringing line around the top and drawer fronts. Simple round edges to the table top. c. 1820
A faded mahogany table with ebony stringing line in the square classical form and banding used as the principal inlays to contrast with the satinwood edging to the table top. The stretcher has a restrained turning, while the pillars show later turning.
The heavy gadrooning on this plain mahogany table suggests a later than normal date. The turned stretcher is not very inspiring. c. 1830
A small mahogany sofa table of simple form. The maker was none too happy about getting the legs on to the pillar. They look what they are, two curves dowelled and stuck on to a rectangular piece of wood which in turn is built up like a Lego set into the top. Even the stringing line is a bit mean. c. 1830

Sofa table

Sofa tables belong to the last decade of the eighteenth century and the first two of the nineteenth, after which they became ‘occasional tables’ without a specific function. They were originally designed for writing or playing games while people sat on a sofa, and as such were usually at least 5 ft long, sometimes as much as 6 ft, and no more than 2 ft 6 in high and 22-24 in wide.
Bearing in mind their function, it is obvious that the extra flaps are extensions of length rather than width, since a flap on the sofa side of the table would make it very uncomfortable for anyone to sit at. In order to give as much legroom as possible, they were of cheval construction, with two end bearers, rather in the manner of the old X-frame trestle table, solidly made and correctly balanced so that they did not sway from side to side. In some, a central stretcher helped stability.
By c.1810, sofa tables were made on the central pillar-and-claw design, usually more ornate, and often with brass stringing inset as decoration on legs and plinth as  well as on drawers and surfaces.
Early sofa tables had fairly deep drawers on one full length and matching dummy drawer on each side. Often, drawers were fitted with compartments for games and writing materials. In the later period, c.1820, drawers became shallower as sofa tables began to lose their identity and became merely decorative.
Early versions were not very robust, being intended only for genteel use, and it is uncommon to find one without any repair or restoration.
Signs of authenticity
1. Thick, fine veneers on close-grained red pine or Honduras mahogany.
2. Drawers oak-lined, not pine.
3. Undersides of flap plain veneered – visible when not raised.
4. If with locks, steel levers to brass locks and lock casings –brass levers are post-1840.
5. Two fly brackets to each flap.
6. Three ‘knuckles’ or hinges to each bracket.
7. Underframe frieze inset to take width of closed brackets, allowing flaps to fall flush with cheval supports.
8. Sham drawers on either side to real drawers.
9. Grain running across width, not down length of table.
10. No escutcheons to locks (if fitted) but simple rim escutcheons with rounded bottoms. Squared bottoms to rim escutcheons are post-1840.
11. Cross-cut veneer to edge of tables.
12. Often, cast brass, turned, circular, flat knobs to drawers or lion’s masks with rings.
Likely restoration and repair
13. Cheval supports broken, replaced with central pillar support taken from damaged piece of same period.
14. Cheaper cheval supports taken from mass-produced sofa tables of same period, usually not as long, added to a high quality top. Marks of original bearers, screw-holes, chevals set in too close.
15. Made-up cheval supports from Victorian cheval mirrors. Holes where mirror pivoted, usually in square block in cheval, concealed by a rosette or other decoration, where it has been plugged and stained.
16. If both drawers are on the same side, indicates a recent addition.
17. Veneered in pinkish-coloured birch. Cheap Victorian substitute for satinwood, with wavy grain instead of straight or figured.
18. Grain running length of table suggests new top with suitable inlay made up from larger piece of period furniture.
Sofa tables were made with two different constructions: the cheval and the central pillar support. The cheval type had solid supports dividing into two splayed legs, and was made with or without stretchers. The central pillar-supports often incorporated a half-circle resting on a central plinth with up-curving flattened splayed legs, frequently terminating in lion’s paw feet or square box castors with horizontal fittings.
They were made in a wide variety of woods and veneers: rosewood, mahogany and ‘black’ walnut. There were two drawers, side by side in the width of the table, one sham the other real.
The correct proportions are quite large: 5-6 ft long with the flaps extended, 22-24 in wide and approximately 2 ft 6 in in height. The overall shape is definitely long, lean and sleek, with minimal overhang on either side. When the flaps are down they fall flush with the side supports. The legs splay out in a flattened curve so that they can be pulled close to the sofa, with the legs sliding a little way beneath.
Variations
Sofas were not part of the furnishings of smaller agricultural homes until the age of sprung furniture some time after c.1830. Country versions of the card table fulfilled the same function as a sofa table for writing and playing games. Contemporary, cheaper versions were made, in machine-cut woods, mass-produced with thin veneer and poor quality materials, usually shorter in length than high-quality versions.
Legs of chevals in provincial sofa tables tend to be heavy, or
Detail
Early sofa tables resemble writing furniture more than ornamental pieces, and share their smooth, plain surfaces rather than the more elaborate inlays which might lift and catch on soft fabrics of sleeves and cuffs. Simple decoration, such as cross-banded borders, continued on to the flaps, and some fine examples have fly brackets set at the edge of the frieze so that, when opened, the design carries on from the frieze to the ends of the brackets.
From c.1810 they are found in many veneers, including satinwood, light Cuban mahogany, laburnum, zebrawood, amboyna and rosewood. Between 1810 and 1820 brass inlay was very popular, and from c.1815 the fashionable design of the lyre was incorporated, and lyre-ended tables were made with brass rods to simulate harp strings.
machine-cut with decoration on outer ,surface of chevals only, strengthened with stretchers. Legs would often be chamfered to join the upright, then screwed, glued and clamped before being veneered over the joint to look as though they are correctly made.
The basic idea of a narrow all-purpose drawing table has been used in many variations since sofa tables were first designed by Thomas Sheraton and his contemporaries.
Reproductions
The period of the sofa table’s popularity comes within the age of mass-manufactured furniture. These tables were more often made in cheaper materials, and of meaner proportions for provincial homes, rather than as country pieces. After c.1850 many unattractive versions of long occasional tables were made all over the country, many of them with side-flaps rather than end flaps. Taller versions were used in libraries behind high-backed Victorian and Edwardian settees and sofas for trays of drinks, etc.
In the 1950s a proliferation of copies of the lyre-ended design flooded the market, but since they went out of fashion they have not been seen around in very large numbers.
Price bands
Top-quality Regency, without stretcher, mahogany,
£7,000 + .
Finely veneered satinwood, c.1810, £4,500 5,500.
Central support, fine quality, c.1810, £3,500-4,500.
Rosewood or walnut, fine quality, with stretcher, c.1830, 12,000 3,000.
Poorer quality veneered, £600-900.
Left: turned stretcher and cheval legs have probably been added. Centre: superb early Regency Thomas Hope design.
Below right: fine, early nineteenth-century, on central support with inlaid brass decoration.