A Queen Anne period dressing table - A George III mahogany dressing table - country dressing table in walnut and fruitwood
Towards the end of the seventeenth century the small tables in walnut and oak or country woods specifically designed as dressing tables made their appearance. Before that it seems to have been the practice to [...]

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 [...]

Queen Anne walnut dressing table - A Victorian folding walnut card-table - A George I period card table in mahogany - Small Walnut William and Mary period dressing table
A Queen Anne japanned dressing table and mirror set which Ulustrates clearly the form of the previous dressing table, but with octagonal legs. The arched front of [...]

TABLES  writing
A satinwood ‘Carlton House’ writing table with oval panels in the upper doors. The type appears in Gillow’s cost books for 1796 and is also illustrated in the ‘Cabinet Maker’s Book of Prices’ of 1788. Carlton House was the residence of the Prince Regent. Gillows simply describe the piece as ‘A Ladies’ Drawing and [...]

TABLES  centre pedestal
Not all the tables in this section started out life as dining tables by any means. Many were intended as centre tables or for occasional use, but the modern collector, with more modest space and size of household, is
happy to adopt them for dining. Indeed, many of the large extending tables used in [...]

TABLES  dressing
The most successful form of dressing table seems to have been one with drawers in pedestals on either side. Indeed, the walnut reproduction desk shown in the Desk Section (No. 326) is, in fact, a copy of a kneehole
dressing table of c.1700 (but see the Price Guide to Antique Furniture for all about that). [...]

TABLES  nests of
Antique nests of tables are illustrated by Sheraton in his Cabinet Directory of 1803 and have been much reproduced since then. They were described as ‘quartetto’ tables and, while Sheraton envisaged them as useful for needlework, George Smith in his Household Furniture of 1808 saw them in their more modernly accepted role  for [...]

TABLES  folding card, 1720-1750
On the previous page we show how, from early sacred examples, tables could be adapted for profane purposes. The move from turned or turned and faceted leg to a cabriole form followed quite simply the general furniture pattern (see Chairs). The fold-over as opposed to hanging flap type was ideal for the [...]