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.

DRESSING TABLES  kneehole
A simpler walnut kneehole with herring-bone banding to the drawers. The top is quartered and cross-banded. Note that the shaped section over the kneehole space is, in fact, another drawer. Original handles. 1720-1740.
A solid yew wood kneehole with lip-moulded drawers. A fairly simple piece which will depend largely for its value on the colour and patination. A faded nut brown colour being much more valuable than a reddish tinge. Hence the wide price range.
Another mahogany kneehole, with fluted canted corners and a slide. Original handles. The photograph and lack of polish do not do it justice. Price assumes a deep rich colour. 1740-1760
There seems little doubt that this piece of furniture was evolved for bedroom or dressing room use; it has subsequently been found extremely useful as a desk. People did write in their bedrooms, of course, and we happily illustrate, in the mahogany examples, a piece fitted with both mirror accoutrements and writing paraphernalia. This is just to show that we are not prepared to be didactic; the concensus is that this is, generally speaking, an ‘upstairs’ piece, but there is no reason why it should not have been found useful downstairs as well.
Value Points: as for Chests, also if centre section pulls forwards
Here we are  an unusual but genuine fit-up under a hinged top and a false front top drawer. This mahogany piece is fitted both for dressing and titivation purposes as well as with ink-holding drawer and letter/ envelope rack inside. The drawers are cock-beaded. 1740-1760
A high quality veneered mahogany kneehole with slightly serpentine front, canted fluted corners and fluted central arch.
A solid mahogany serpentine-front kneehole on ogee bracket feet. Note that the foot has an extra facet to match the squared corner. There are in fact three main shapes of ogee feet, the most simple curves out where it meets the floor, the second is squared off just at that point but this one, the best type, has a more pronounced curve over the foot as well as the squaring off where it meets the floor.
An American block-front mahogany kneehole with characteristic ’shell’ carving over the central door. 1750-1770
A very decoratively veneered mahogany serpentine-front kneehole. One often sees early 20th century reproductions made broadly to this design. 1860-1880
An unusual oak kneehole fitted with a secretaire drawer (see below)  clearly a ‘writing’ piece. c.1750
A simple but very pleasant solid mahogany kneehole on bracket feet, with cock-beaded drawers.
A late nineteenth century mahogany kneehole in the Sheraton manner, with quarter-fan inlaid satinwood decoration in the corners of the door. There is also a slide.
A late nineteenth century carved kneehole desk in mahogany with a gadrooned edge to the top. 1890-1920