A ‘Chippendale’ Folding Card or Tea Table in Mahogany - A Sheraton Period Satinwood Card Table - Regency Card Table

A ‘Chippendale’ folding card or tea table in mahogany with moulded square legs, serpentine front and elegantly shaped frieze, c.1760-70. Tables of this kind are always higher in value if of the ‘tea’ type, i.e. with solid wood surface on the interior, rather than ‘card’ type with a baize interior.
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. C
The edge of the top is also carved. The wood is mahogany. The legs are chamfered on the inside.
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.
A Chippendale mahogany card table, c.1760 with a green baize lined folding top. The edges, frieze and square chamfered legs are fretted in
the Chinese manner, which inexplicably makes this normally rather underpriced piece of furniture double its value.
N.B. Without this fretwork a plain card table of this type is now 50 The ‘tea’ version with polished interior is 60  70.
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 George III, c.1765, 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 Sheraton period (1790 - 1800) satinwood card table cross-banded with rosewood. Note the tapering legs and the medal set in the top panel of the leg.
Value points: Satinwood
A Sheraton period (1790 - 1800) mahogany card table cross-banded with satinwood. Note again the oval medals at the top of the tapering legs and the inlaid stringing lines.
It is to be noted that a pair of identical tables causes the individual piece to be more than doubled. Thus a pair of such tables would be in the 600-700 range.
A mahogany circular folding table of c.1790 with Hepplewhite-cumSheraton influence in the design. A type which could be used as a games or tea table, the latter usually being claimed when the inside is not lined with baize but veneered in the manner of the outside. The stringing lines add considerable elegance as do the oval medallions in the panels at the top of each leg, which ends in a spade foot.
Value, points: Matched figuring of mahogany and stringing …
A George III satinwood and marquetry card table, c.1790, with a folding circular top, cross-banded with rosewood. The inlay consists of urns and flower festoons within a meandering band of anthemion and the frieze is similarly inlaid. The square tapering collared legs with the oval medallions at the top are of a kind generally associated with Shereton designs. These tables were frequently made in pairs.
It would be difficult to find more highly valued tables of this period.
Value points: Quality of decoration .. N.B. Inferior Edwardian copies abound.
A Sheraton period (1790 - 1800) mahogany serpentine fronted side table on tapering legs. An elegant design with interesting enlargement of the
square section added as ornamentation near the bottom of legs.
A mahogany card table of c.1800 in figured veneer with square tapering legs, ending in spade feet. There is a simple boxwood stringing line around the top edges and the frieze which is repeated around the spade foot
top. It is covered in baize inside and is not quite circular when open, although not exaggeratedly oval. Circularity is an important value point, however. This table has the advantage of a double gate, i.e. both back legs open Outwards to support the folding top when open.
Decorative inlays  Satinwood
A fairly typical plain mahogany card table of late Regency or early Victorian period, probably c.1840. The centre pedestal can be either circular in section, often of gunbarrel appearance, or octagonal, and the base
usually reflects this in design. The top swivels and opens to form a baize-lined square surface.
Value points: Rosewood
Figured woods and inlays
Regency period mahogany card table, c.1820, on turned centre column. The hinged folding top pivots on the frame which forms the frieze to provide support when open. Note the fluted square leg forms.
A fairly typical Regency card table of c.1830 on a turned centre pedestal supported by four sabre legs. The fold-over top has a beaded edge moulding and swivels about the centre to allow support from the underframe when open. Inside there is a green baize covering.
Value points: Rosewood  Brass inlays ..
A Regency period  c.1820  rosewood card table, with inlaid stringing and bead-moulded edge decoration. For some reason the semi-elliptical hoop support under the top and above the centre pedestal attracts a higher
price from dealers than other types. A sofa table with a similar support is illustrated in the relevant section. Although the craftsmanship involved in executing this design is undoubtedly high, the overall effect is to
produce a confusion of styles and a weakness of support.
Value points: Rosewood  Brass stringing  Original casters the circular and oval
A Victorian folding walnut card-table, c.1845. Like 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.
A late Regency rosewood card table of c.1830. The top is inlaid with a brass border line and swivels across its underframing, which supports it when open. Bead moulding doubly decorates the frieze and the top edge of the base. It is an example of the revived rococo and conflicting designs of the period: paw feet; leaf decoration; turned, reeded and carved column; and a kind of cabochon-and-leaf corner decoration to the frieze, which is also concave.

Oak Table of Refectory Type - Late Seventeenth Century Oak Gate-Leg Table - George I Period Mahogany Drop-Leaf Gate-Leg Dining Table

An early oak table of refectory type, c.1600. The large turned legs are connected almost at floor level with heavy stretchers. The main under frame is tenoned into the square tops of the legs and the table top consists of three or four massive oak planks. The main under frame provided a frieze for decoration and was often richly carved. The top was held in position either by under battens or oak dowels driven through the top into the under frame.
Depending on decoration and size. Larger tables are in the higher range.
A slightly more developed small oak table of the early seventeenth century, c.1630. The turned legs are less bulbous than those seen on earlier tables and the frieze provided by the under frame is panelled, to allow for
decoration. The fluting of the legs started to replace the bulb type in late Jacobean times and remained in use until after the Restoration.
Quality of carving and reeding of legs.
Mid-seventeenth century oak table  c.1650 - with column turned legs, (sometimes called gunbarrel type). The floor-level stretchers are still evident and the top is made of three thick solid planks. The frieze is quite
plain.
Late seventeenth century oak gate-leg table  c.1690  of fairly small dimensions, which could seat four people. Note the bun-shaped feet and the more developed turning of the legs.
Value points: Quality of turning on legs.
Size:  again larger tables to seat more people gain value probably following:- 6 people,8 people,12 people.
N.B. This criterion does not apply to very small gate-leg tables for side use, which command a high premium.
George III period oak gate-leg table with tapering legs ending in pad feet, c.1765. A type of table made for a considerable period throughout the mid and late eighteenth century. This example is exceptional in size and
therefore the centre section is particularly wide.
George I period mahogany drop-leaf gate-leg dining table, c.1725. 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 eighteenth century.
Small oak gate-leg table of c.1670, with column turned legs but ending in square feet with a slight outward splay instead of the turned feet of our other examples. This is a simple table with plain, square section
stretchers between the legs. The joint between the flaps and centre section is of the tongued and grooved type which was superseded in the eighteenth century by the rule joint.
George III period square drop-flap mahogany gate-leg table, c.1760, 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.
Mid-Georgian drop-leaf table in mahogany of the gate-leg type, c.1760. 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 away but their one defect is that of all gate-leg tables; there tend to be too many legs under the table when in use.
Late seventeenth century gate-leg table in walnut, c.1690. Note the unusual features of turned stretchers and different turning of gates and centre section legs.