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 use a
small side table with perhaps a small desk with sloping lid or mirror on it.
Since they were designed to be decorative as well as functional, dressing-tables have produced some of the most sophisticated and pleasant pieces of their periods. Their natural appeal to women of a much later
period than those of that for which they were designed has always kept them to the forefront of demand.
Dressing tables of the walnut period exhibit all the most desirable features of walnut veneered furniture: quartered tops with herringbone crossbandings; cross-grained mouldings; turned legs with early forms and
stretchers or, later , cabriole legs with scrolls, and so on. As a microcosm of period features and because of their small size, they have become very sought after and hence very expensive.
The later eighteenth century dressing tables in mahogany and country woods make no less ideal collectors pieces and hence are also greatly in demand. So far Victorian examples have not followed the analogy of
chairs and dining tables perhaps because the Victorians tended towards larger dressing tables without the same appeal.
Value points: The followingvalue points apply to the examples illustrated.
1. Top Surface. As with other tables, the condition, patina and figuring of the top surface are important. The more perfect and decorative the appearance, the more the .. factor will apply.
2. Structural Condition. This is again assumed to be good.
3. Legs. Depending on the period, the design,and always the proportion,of the legs is an important factor. Legs are always liable to damage and their condition and originality constitute a  factor if good.
A Queen Anne period dressing table and mirror set of c.1710 which are japanned in a light background with flower decoration. The table shows the typical arch shaping of the frieze and there are two acorn pendants
on the centre arch. The octagonal legs taper down to turned shaping and bun feet. The X stretcher with its scroll shaping has a central circular pedestal for a bowl. Note that the table top has a thumb-nail edge
moulding and there is a half-round or ‘D’ moulding on the front around each drawer. The mirror is described in the Toilet Mirror section.
Small walnut William and Mary period dressing table, c.1690. The top would be veneered in walnut, quartered to give a symmetrical pattern from the figure, and with a’herringbone’ or ‘feather’ inlay around it, inside the
cross-banding. The thumb-nail moulding around the top edge and indeed the decoration of the top is similar to chests of drawers of the period. A half-round moulding around the drawers is also typical. In the frieze it is usual to find a shallow centre drawer and two deep ones on either side, or two short drawers. The arched shaping of the frieze is typical. Drawer pulls are of peardrop shape in brass and on a circular or star-shaped plate, the handle being linked to a double strip of brass or iron which was passed through a small hole in the drawer front, parted, pressed down and pinned into the wood. The inverted cup form on the legs, as mentioned earlier, shows the Dutch influence, and the bun feet and shaped veneered stretchers are also typical.
Value Points: Decoration of top  Proportion of legs
Queen Anne walnut dressing table, c.1710. Note that the turned legs of the William and Mary period have now changed to cabrioles although the shaping of the frieze remains similar. The top edge moulding, veneers and drawer arrangement are still in the earlier style.
Quality of carbriole legs  Original handles
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.
Value Points: Walnut  Fruitwood
A George III mahogany dressing table with square legs chamfered at the back, c.1770. An unpretentious table whose origins are clear from previous illustrations and of a type increasingly popular. The top edge still retains a moulding derived from the thumb-nail but now more sophisticated with an ogee curve.
Walnut dressing table, c.1720. The rather deep full top drawer gives a slightly top-heavy effect since the cabriole legs are rather slender. The top edge moulding is a refined thumb-nail type. The top veneer is quartered and cross-banded-, the drawers are edged with cock-beading and have a feather or herringbone cross banding. The handles are not original. A poor photograph which makes the piece out of proportion.
A later Georgian c.1780, 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.
George I period dressing table in fruitwood, c.1725. 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. The handles are not original.
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.
A satinwood dressing table of Sheraton period, c.1795, with mirror which folds flat to lie under the folding top. Similar designs for shaving tables and lady’s cabinet dressing tables of involved character are to be found, but this is one of the more popular designs of the period.
Value Points: Satinwood ….
Original Mirror
A mahogany dressing table of c.1820, with replacement handles. The square tapering legs and rectangularity of design reflect a Sheraton influence. The black stringing lines around the top and the drawers and frieze
are often identified with this period. Useful also as occasional writing tables, these pieces are understandably popular, as well as having a simplicity of design which allows them to blend easily with modern decor.

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

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 the table has two turned acorn pendants. It is to be noted that the mirror is a particularly fine example, having abureau in miniature below it with stepped interior.
Another walnut card table of the early 18th century with graceful cabriole legs decorated with shell motif on the knee and ending in ball and claw feet. The shaping for candle stands at the corners is clearly shown, as
are the inserted cups for counters.
Small Walnut William and Mary period dressing table. The top would be veneered in walnut, quartered to give a symmetrical pattern from the figure, and with a ‘herring-bone’ or ‘feather’ inlay around it, inside the cross
banding. The thumb-nail moulding around the top edge and indeed the decoration of the top is similar to chests of drawers of the period. A half-round moulding around the drawers is also typical. In the frieze it is usual to find a shallow centre drawer and two deep ones on either side, or two short drawers. The arched shaping of the frieze is typical. Drawer pulls are of peardrop shape in brass and on a circular or star-shaped plate, the handle being linked to a double strip of brass or iron which was passed through a small hole in the drawer front, pasted pressed down and pinned into the wood. The inverted cup form on the legs, as mentioned earlier, shows the Dutch influence and the bun feet and shaped veneered stretchers are also typical.
A card table of William and Mary period with fine cabriole legs, ending in ball and claw feet. The knees show the shell and pendant husk motif, having a. C scroll on the inside edge. Note the candle-stands at the
corners. The usual covering was green velvet and the frame and rounded edge of the top are in cross-grained walnut. The method of extending the table, which folds to a side table when not in use, is of the
‘concertina’ action type.
Value points: Quality of hipped cabrioles, shell motif, bold ball and claw feet
Queen Anne walnut dressing table. Note that the turned legs of the William and Mary period have now changed to cabrioles although the shaping of the frieze remains similar. The top edge moulding, veneers and
drawer arrangement are still in the earlier style.
Value points: Quality of cabriole legs  Original handles
Walnut dressing table, first 41 of 18th century. The rather deep full top drawer gives a slightly top-heavy effect since the cabriole legs are rather slender. The top edge moulding is a refined thumbnail type. The top
veneer is quartered and cross banded;the drawers are edged with cock-beading and have a feather or herring-bone cross banding. The handles are not original. A poor photograph which makes the piece out of
proportion.
A George I period card table in mahogany with shell motif on the cabriole legs. The shaped corners for candle stands are retained but the frieze is straight.
A Virginian walnut table of c. 1720 with fine cabriole legs ending in spade feet. This table has lost its folding top but the centre drawer and shaping of the frieze are similar to the preceding example. A provincial or
country made version of the finer examples.
Price Range: (with folding top)
A late Victorian or Edwardian mahogany dining table. The square cornered influence of the late 19th century gives rise to mixture of designs which wholly fail to blend.
Value points: Mahogany
Examples are frequently to be found in oak.
A Victorian folding walnut card-table. Like the circular and oval dining tables of the period, it is thinly veneered in burr walnut and inlaid with marquetry patterns. The base is quite elaborately carved. Inside the surface is lined with baize.
Marquetry inlay
An early Victorian circular dining table of a type found in both mahogany and burr walnut veneer. The tripod carved base with its leaf, scroll and paw foot carving shows great exuberance and quality of execution. An
example of good Victorian cabinet work.
A mahogany late Victorian dining table with the heavy underframe and ponderously turned bulbous legs. The top is usually made of two or three leaves and the table can be of the extending type. Note that the edge moulding has become rather over emphasized.
Quality of leg turning  Figured woods

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 Writing Table’. We tend to associate square tapering legs with Sheraton, but this type of table had a considerable revival in about 1890 and is still being made to the present day. (Harrods usually stock one or two.) Readers of the Price Guide to Antique Furniture will know from page 258, items 942-945 that there are marquetry ones, satinwood ones, plain mahogany ones and there are even painted ones. Variations in the design are very frequent in lesser Edwardian pieces.
1890-present day marquetry/satinwood satinwood as above painted/inlaid mahogany.
The borderline between a writing table and a desk or bureau is sometimes hard to define. On the whole a writing table remains a table, on four legs with some drawers in the frieze, but the Carlton House version is
almost a desk or bureau due to the upper structure. Here, we have followed accepted practice and, after the Carlton House version, show the simpler pieces of furniture.
An inlaid satinwood writing table in the French Louis XVth style on cabriole legs with ormolu mounts. The top surface has an inset leather area, crossbanded around it with additional inlay. The top edge has an ormolu moulding surround. 1860-1880
Three writing tables in 18th century styles, using square tapering or turned legs, brass ring handles with circular pressed plates and with drawers in the frieze. The central example has small upper drawers as well. All have an inset leather top.
Three writing tables of rather less quality. The central one is kidney-shaped and the other two are oak examples with square section legs. 1890-1920
An inlaid mahogany writing table in the ‘Sheraton’ style which also incorporates an oval mirror with flanking small drawers.
An oak writing table in ‘William ‘and Mary’ style, evidenced by the turned legs with inverted cups or ‘bells’ and the bun feet. The front stretcher has been thoughtfully omitted so as to allow the writer to get his or her
feet under the table without hindrance.

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 Victorian dining rooms are now more suitable for boardrooms or for those who entertain many people at a time than for modern
dining purposes. These larger tables are dealt with in the section, TABLES  dining.
A walnut centre table on four scrolled supports which are themselves on four scrolled cabriole legs. A very popular design in the 1850s. (Smee’s catalogue shows an almost identical table, 1850.) Now perhaps regardedas a high-point of scrolled Victorian rococo, whose exuberance and frivolity snap their fingers at the stolid, classical dourness of the other prevailing styles. Not designed constructionally for heavy use but a splendid example of the genre. c.1860
An oval walnut centre table on a centre turned support and four carved scrolled supports on an X-shaped platform which is, in its turn, on four scrolled feet. This elaborate base is of a type popular in the 1850s and
1860s.
A circular walnut centre table on a gadrooned baluster column and three scrolled rococo legs. The top is veneered in sections of burr walnut whereas the base is solid. A design popular in the 1850s but still offered by various manufacturers in modified form to later dates. 1860-1870
An oval walnut table on a four-column base with four scrolled feet and a finialled circular central section. The top is inlaid with boxwood stringing and stylised foliage marquetry. Stylistically derived from the 1850s and 1860s but more likely to have been made twenty years later when this four-column version of the base was very prevalent in commercial catalogues such as C. & R. Light. 1865-1885
A walnut oval breakfast table inlaid with stringing lines and a centre marquetry panel. The designer has adopted a belt-and-braces approach in using both a centre column and four smaller supporting columns rising from the curved legs. Similar designs occur in catalogues of the 1860s to the 1880s.
A circular rosewood table in the George III manner, with a broad satinwood banding to the top and satinwood panels in the curving legs supporting the turned centre column. The top is veneered in two matched halves
of figured rosewood and the quality of execution is very high. 1910-1930
A mahogany two-pedestal rectangular dining table of Georgian design. The column-turned supports end in four curved reeded legs with brass paw castors and the table is a straightforward reproduction of one of the
most popular forms of English dining table. 1920 to present day
TABLES  centre pedestal, Gothic
The centre pedestal table was quite a favourite of the Reformed Gothic designers who adapted Pugin’s models to their own ideas. The use of structural timbers of more architectural configuration was a hallmark of the type and some of the really high-quality, roof-beamed versions in oak with inlaid tops are now very expensive collectors’ pieces.
An oak centre pedestal table with a tip-up top which is of Puginesque design, although probably not by him. The use of the grotesque carved animals’ heads and the heavily-pillared centre column, more like stonework
than wood, is typical of the use of Gothic design. Note the carved edge of the table top, with its Gothic-Islamic motif. Possibly intended as a library table and of the mid-Victorian Gothic style transitional between fanciful Regency `Gothick’ and the severer Reformed Gothic of the 1860s.
A typical Reformed Gothic octagonal centre table using ,revealed’ construction and an architectural structure to the base, following Pugin’s example. The top is inlaid and the joints are pegged, with ebony ‘dowels’ to
mark them, reiterated in the decoration of the frieze. Note also the carefully-designed handles.c. 1865
An octagonal walnut centre table on four column supports and a structural stretchered base ending in-shaped feet. The piece has all the hallmarks of Reformed Gothic design: turned collars on the columns, ebonised for emphasis; moulded stretchers connecting the heavy central crossed base with its chamfered edges; incised Gothic trefoil motifs.1865-1870
Another, very popular, design of octagonal table in which the Reformed Gothic style is marked by the heavy crossed stretchers on the base on which the four turned column supports stand. These crossed stretchers
curve downwards to form feet and, in this case, have a further stretcher between them at the base of each column.c. 1865
Put here for contrast and instruction, this octagonal pitch-pine table is still ‘Gothic’ in style but is probably ecclesiastical in origin and taken from a chapel or a church. The base looks a little out of proportion with the top. 1870-1880

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). The simpler the design, very often, the more successful it was. Apart from the pedestal type  which has been much converted
into desks  the , lowboy’, with its two deep drawers and one central shallow one, on cabriole legs, is the very other popular form.
The advent of built-in bedroom units has meant the demise of many large pedestal dressing tables but the smaller, prettier ones have survived as whimsical occasional tables, even in the bedroom. These smaller tables tend to be the more highly valued.
A dressing table of a type made by Holland & Co. in satin ash with ebony stringing lines and brass gallery rails above the upper drawers. Perhaps made en suite with the ‘Wellington’ chest 303. A high-quality piece of
furniture in a simple pleasing style. 1850-1880
A dressing table designed by Owen Jones for Eynsham Hall, Oxon, in 1873. In fact, Shoolbred’s catalogue of 1876 shows examples very similar in design. This piece is in a pleasant, light wood and the stringing lines and neat black knobs contribute to an easy formality of design which is wholly missing from much furniture of the period. Unfortunately many dressing tables of this sort have had the top section removed to cater for the enormous trade in pedestal desks. 1870-1880
A rather more ‘Victorian’ mahogany version of the preceding examples, with scrolled carved supports to the shaped mirror. The pedestals are bow-fronted and the descent from simple clean lines to something less
tasteful is clearly illustrated. 1850-1880
Down further we go, into semi-rococo ugliness. The oval mirror is all right but the rest is fairly unpleasant and extremely wasteful of space. Apart from the central drawer the frieze is totally unused and probably ‘false’ while as for the legs and bottom shelf … !
An oak dressing table and mirror to match with revealed construction in the manner approved by the Gothic reformers. The arcaded painted decoration is in keeping.
A painted dressing table which has borrowed something from the art furniture brigade in its design and perhaps something from Regency ‘bamboo’.
An inlaid mahogany dressing table in the Sheraton manner, owing something to the Carlton House writing table in the curving design of the centre section which leads, in the upper storey, to two drawers. The inlays
incorporate shell and swag motifs.
An inlaid mahogany kidney-shaped dressing table in the `Sheraton’ manner, depending on a late 18th or early 19th century original design but somewhat over-decorated by the Edwardians. c.1900
A walnut ‘Queen Anne’ dressing table of a type known as a lowboy. One of the most popular and pretty pieces from the walnut period of 1710-1730 and much reproduced. See the Price Guide to Antique Furniture for several original examples. c.1925
A Liberty’s dressing table in the ‘art nouveau’ style in its more straight-line English variety. Usually made en suite with an accompanying washstand (see 608). C. 1900
A mahogany dressing table of ,art nouveau’ design with inlaid decoration and square tapering legs ending in round feet. C. 1900
Another walnut dressing table of `Queen Anne’ style but which is immediately apparent as a reproduction version, not true to original proportions, from the long cabriole legs. The previous example is much more true to the original.
A ‘William and Mary’ style dressing table, so termed because of the inverted-cup turning, bun feet and shaped stretcher of the base. Not the correct proportions for a period piece. c. 1925
One of Maurice Adams ‘original’ designs, successful commercially in the 1920s and 1930s, based on ‘Queen Anne’ styles. This example is in figured walnut but mahogany versions were also available. An entirely
post-1920 interpretation of Queen Anne and quite identifiably 20th century. c.1925
A veneered walnut dressing table, with wardrobe-chest to match, on cabriole legs with shell carving to the knees. Anyone seeking to comprehend why 20th century burr walnut furniture is so far in appearance from the early 18th century pieces it vaguely emulates should look at the sheer fussiness of the figure in these veneers and the confusion it generates even when laid in matched symmetrical sheets. 1920-1940
Lacquered versions of ‘Queen Anne’ (right) and ‘William and Mary’ (left) dressing tables. There was a revival in lacquer furniture (often on a blue ground, but also red and black) in the 1920s which now has a market in
the interior decoration business.
A walnut veneered dressing table and wardrobe with drawer above. Very much post-1918 in design, with solid pedestal bases emphasised by dark applied mouldings, no separate feet, square unembellished edges and solid square ebonised wooden handles. The central drawer of the dressing table has been replaced by a glass shelf. Quite what the drawer above the wardrobe was used for is not certain  Something the Children Must Not Find, perhaps 1920-1940

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 refreshments. A rosewood set with the collared embellishment shown by Sheraton in his design. The clawfeet are curved over in ogee form. c. 1810
An unusual table design similar to a set illustrated by Edwards as coming from Leighton Hall, Lancashire, a house owned by Robert Gillow. It has satinwood and walnut veneer on the table tops and a chequer board inlaid on the smallest table. The nicely-turned cabriole legs are ebonised and have three tiers of stretchers. The smallest table also has a scooped tray between the bottom stretchers, perhaps for games pieces. c.1810
A papier mache set with varied top decoration including an inlaid and painted landscape as well as a chequer board.
A ‘quintetto’, with dragons decorating the japanned top surfaces and carved heads on the feet. The uprights are turned and reeded but the stretchers are heavy.

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 card-cum-side table. While the gateleg method of support was still used a new method was also evolved. ‘Concertina action’ as it has come to be known, enabled the two back legs to be folded out and stand square,
giving a more stable and attractive appearance to the table which in this position could be used as a centre table and looked the same from every angle. A photograph of this mechanism half extended is seen in 708.
The pad foot coexisted with the cabriole leg but seems in general to have been used for the more humble pieces. However, as can be seen, some very attractive early pad foot examples exist.
Another variation which one meets is the three-top table in which there is merely an additional flap to provide an alternative top. This is sometimes inset with contrasting woods to provide a games top, e.g. a chess board. The value of these pieces is greater than their two-top equivalent by about fifteen to twenty per cent. They are found mainly from the second quarter of the eighteenth century.
The fold-over action requires hinges to be placed on the side. This is a perfectly sound method, but abuse over the years can lead to ugly or ineffective repairs having been made which will, of course, reduce value.
A mahogany example with a baize top surface highlighting the corner candlestands and the inset scoops. This table also has cabriole legs ending in ball-and-claw feet, but the knee is carved with leaf and scroll forms. The flap is supported by a leg which pivots on a gate. c. 1735
Shows a fine quality walnut example, the cabriole legs having shell decoration carved on the knee and being hipped’ at the top to flow into the veneered frieze surface in
the same way as the chairs of this quality of that period. The legs end in ball-and-claw feet. The only features of quality lacking in this table are, on the top playing surface, the candlestands and scoops for gaming counters which can be seen in the next example. c.1720
Not all the early desirable pieces have cabriole legs. This delightful little pad foot table is veneered in red walnut with a fifth leg to give stability when the table is open. The decoration includes the typical early protrusions on the lower rail and the spur at the top of the legs.
A more simple gateleg type with pad feet and fold-over top. It still, however, retains the spurs at the top of the legs. Although they are straight, the legs are canted out very slightly and give an impression of foursquareness lacking in later pieces. c. 1740
In this example the decoration is confined to ball-and claw feet and shaped apron to the frieze which is constructed as a drawer. It has, however, the desirable feature of concertina action. Fitted with candlestands and inset scoops.
A simpler but good quality table with legs ending in pad feet. The cabriole form is used only on the front legs, while the back ones are straight. In this table the top, when folded open, is supported by one of the back legs swinging open on a gate, as is also the case in 701.
A George II folding top table in heavy mahogany. The straight legs ending in pad feet are a modification of earlier cabriole legs in that the earlier exuberance has been curbed and the leg is now much more restrained. These tables were probably multipurpose, being used for both games and for refreshments such as tea.