Antique Work Table - A Regency Work Table in Mahogany - A Victorian Walnut Work Table

Work tables for use by ladies, with space for needlework materials in a well below were a later 18th century phenomenon and were made in a variety of forms. We have illustrated some typical examples and have
included a number without the silk bag but with small drawers instead. It can be mentioned that Sheraton illustrated some designs, as did Gillows. In the Regency period and after, some very elaborately decorated
designs appeared in a variety of styles; the later Victorian type of octagonal form, with tapering well, supported on a tripod base, have recentlybecome popular and are being sold in a range from 15-25 depending on the veneered surface decoration.
A Regency work table in burr walnut with side drop flaps and three drawers, on Disneyesque paw feetwithreeded scrolls. Under the lowest drawer a slide acts as a drawer frame for the pleated silk bag.
Value points: Burr walnut
A Regency mahogany work table with drop flaps and a centre drawer with work bag sliding beneath. The end supports consist of two turned columns on raised feet and a turned stretcher, in the style of the columns
connects the two.
Figured woods and inlays  Quality of turning
A Regency yew wood work table on a turned baluster stem and four carved feet ending in brass paw casters. An unusually circular piece, which, had it been in any other wood than yew, should not have been priced at
more than 50.
An early Victorian mahogany work table with folding top, two drawers and silk bag on slide. Supported on an octagonal centre column on shaped platform on turned flat bun feet.
A late Georgian mahogany work table with three shallow drawers, inlaid with boxwood stringing. Note here again the slightly ‘bamboo’ effect in the turning of the tapering legs.
Choice of figured woods and inlays Quality of leg turning
A simpler mahogany work table of the later Georgian or Regency period. The turned legs are simply executed and the mahogany is not greatly figured. The casters are original.
Figured woods and inlays … Quality of leg turning
A Regency period work table on tripod stand, in mahogany. There are two flaps, Pembroke table style, which can be supported on brackets, to give greater surface area to the top. The two drawers open at the visible
end; on the other end two mock drawer surfaces are included to give balance.
Elegance of tripod stand  Choice of figured woods and inlays
A Regency work table in mahogany with three drawers veneered in figured wood. The centre column is turned and carved with leaf pattern. The four carved legs end in paw feet on casters. Note that the drawer fronts are cross banded.
A japanned and painted work table of c.1840. It is constructed on the Pembroke table principle with two side flaps which are supported by small hinged wooded brackets. The drawers are cock-beaded.
Quality of painted decoration …
Mother of pearl inlays
A Victorian walnut work table of c.1860 date. The octagonal top lifts to give access to a compartmented interior and the tapering central column is hollow to allow for storage of wools. It is raised on carved cabriole legs. Usually the tops of such pieces are veneered with a thin sheet of decorative burr, but mahogany and rosewood examples with variations exist. Marquetry inlaid tops are also fairly common in the walnut varieties.
The lids usually made of cheap pine on to which the mahogany was veneered, often warped and, therefore, do not close properly.

TABLES  work, without bags
Not all work tables had bags beneath. The selection shown here is of a type in which the drawers, fitted into a small table, were sufficient for needlework implements and materials.
A Regency rosewood table with the lyre form built into its supports and brass inlays  enough to give any dealer a rush of blood to the head, for these lyre form pieces are very popular and fetch more than curved wood and brass rods justify. c.1815
However, with more drawer space and more decoration than 918 this sort of design disaster can easily occur.
A mahogany work table showing a distinct type with flaps and three drawers on a column support with a flat base on typical Regency feet. 1820
A burr walnut version of 918, with real drawers and an octagonal column which forecasts the piece in 921. c. 1830
This type of leg is more commonly seen on piano stools of the period. As long as the reeding is refined, as in this case, the effect is very successful. c.1810
More elaborate mid-nineteenth century in form, with inlays and delicate curved construction. Although of much less quality, it has a distinct design similarity to 727. Fittings are important. c. 1855
A William IV rosewood example on a much flatter base. The gadrooning is fine and the effect elegant, as is the hexagonal pillar which supports the box with its fake drawer front. The paws are brass. 1830
Made at the same time as the previous example, this piece owes more to Georgian than Regency forms. A little thin in the legs and the termination is not a success, but this is still desirable as a useful small piece.   c. 1810
A simple little work table whose square shape and type of turning proclaim it as late in the century. The drawers are dummy. c.1870-1880

TABLES  work, with bags beneath
The work table fitted out with receptaces for needlework and embroidery implements as used by the ladies of the household, did not appear until the later part of the eighteenth century. Chippendale did not illustrate
them, but Sheraton, true to form, showed a variety of ingenious designs. They must have been very popular, for every manufacturer or designer showed a wide variety right through the century.
Table-cum-firescreen  work could be done in warmth but the delicate skin shielded from the heat. It is in satinwood with ebony stringing lines, and has a fabric work bag beneath  sometimes on a slide for ease of
access. A curious feature of this piece is the hollowed out inside edges of two of the legs  perhaps to fit over
the corner of a particular fender The most popular type of work table. c. 1795
An example on a turned centre pillar and veneered in rosewood. It has brass ball-andclaw castors and brass decoration at the base of the pillar. The top lifts up and the drawers are false. c. 1820
A rosewood work and games table of a type very highly valued. It has brass inlays and decorations and a brass gallery round the sides. The work bag is of pleated silk. The ends are almost lyre-shaped which further
helps the price. c. 1820
Thomas Hope at his best/worst. esque paws jutting malevolently from look as though they should belong prehistoric weighing about three tons. and is in burr walnut.
The Disney-heavy scrolls to something It has a slide
A more modest mahogany William IV type on flat base with a simple top without drawer. c. 1835
High Victorian in style, with burr walnut veneers and a wooden veneered work ‘bag’ beneath. A type illustrated in manufacturers’ catalogues in the 1870s and 1880s, but stemming from earlier designs. c. 1865
A work table showing the scroll-decorated end standards and finials under the top which one associates with the Victorians. The feet show the remains of the paw-foot design of the Regency. It is otherwise a simple piece, and very similar in design to one by T. King. c. 1835-1845
A mahogany design with reeded baluster end standards and turned stretcher of a type illustrated by Loudon in 1833 and popular for some time afterwards. 1835-1845
A type introduced in the late 1850s as an elegant supported urn which settled down to this funnel shape by the 1870s. In walnut. The  price depends on the quality of the interior fittings. Marquetry would help. 1875