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

TABLES  side, lowboys (mainly cabriole leg)
Largely ignored in standard textbooks concerned with the development of furniture design is a delightful little group of tables which ranges from finely made town examples down (or should it be up) to enchanting small country fruitwood or yew pieces; these are eagerly sought after but are often impossible to prize from the hands of dealers in country furniture. We have reserved the term lowboys for three or four drawered side
tables often intended as dressing tables or for occasional use. As mentioned earlier, the dividing line between these and single drawer tables is often difficult to decipher. So we have produced this arbitrary distinction for the sake of convenience. On the question of fakes and improvements in general, little is done to these pieces. Some are veneered up which usually means walnut veneered top with oak legs or some other nonsense. However, when checking the underside note age on the bottom of the fretted front. It is not unknown for a large deep walnut veneered drawer front from an old bottom half of a tallboy to do service as a new front.
Rather more flashily veneered in high quality figured walnut. The cabriole legs are scrolled at the top and end in pointed feet. The form of drawers shows a variant, with a single long top drawer and two smaller ones
set beneath. The drawer edges are cock-beaded and there is an inlaid herring-bone line rather than crossbanding. The top is also quartered. c.1730
A solid walnut example with inlaid boxwood and ebony stringing lines. Note how a slight lip extends from one foot up the inside leg along the bottom of the carcase and down to the other foot as if emphasising the clean outline of the design. The cabriole legs are with shells and the feet show very interesting carved ‘folds’.
An attractive solid walnut example with good cabrioles all round, ovolo moulded drawer fronts and double half-round corners to the top (babies’ bottoms).
The bold brass handles are period if not original. As this a very good colour it is a desirable piece.
An example of the glorious individuality that British country furniture can provide and certainly one of the very few pieces of humorous furniture which exist. How else can one describe these legs but as `cobra cabrioles’ Apart from these extraordinary aberrations the piece has not too much in its favour. The arrangement of drawers makes it almost a writing table. c. 1730
A little cherrywood example. Note the same simple quarter-round moulding but ordinary corners. The drawer arrangement is unexciting and the cabrioles only just curve, nevertheless a pleasant country piece with glorious colour. Note the typical early decoration on the middle of the bottom rail. c.1740
The same top with half-round corners and tight quarter-round moulding of the period. This example is in oak and the cabrioles provide a problem; some collectors will find them attractive, others including this writer, will feel that they are poor-looking as though they have supported one of those large Chinese urns which weigh several hundredweights. Hence the wide price range.

TABLES - occasional gateleg - Willian and Mary fruitwood small side tables - oak occasional table - French country rococo table - Regency carved wood - jacobian gate leg - walnut baroque gateleg table with drawers

First an example of a fruitwood  gateleg table. It has a main turned support at each end, showing baluster and bobbin forms, joined usually by a wide stretcher, which in this case is divided into two square sections for lightness of appearance. There is a wide sledge-shaped foot at each end for stability. The gates which open to support the flaps are flat with a fretted lower stretcher. Late 17th century Willian and Mary period.
Novelty gatelegs might be a better title for these small side tables which sometimes have slightly unusual methods of supporting the flaps, shaping of the legs, or are just good quality. Quite apart from being attractive, these little tables are very useful as they can be folded and put away when not in use. For this reason they command a good price, especially when that glorious white or black colour, which age and polishing (i.e. patination) can confer, is present.
In this oak jacobian occasional table the main columns are flat and fretted. There is a wider foot than in the previous example and again, two flatter stretchers. The flat carved wood gates with drawers are shaped to
echo the end supports.
A charming oak single flap clawfoot table, almost only a stand, in which the same constructional system is used but all uprights are turned with baluster forms. Third quarter 17th century Regency period
A really rare and charming ash ‘coaching’ antique wooden table in which the gates are on a pivot so that the whole top can be folded vertically. It was probably taken in a coach for use on picnic stops. End of 17th
century( c. 1680)
A conventional but charming walnut baroque occasional gateleg table with carefully graded bobbin turning and a small thick rectangular top. c. 1660
Small English Victorian mahogany occasional gateleg with the typical lion foot. The long square sections to the legs height. The small turned stretcher iand a claw feet are exellent in quality.

An antique British little bobbin turned fruitwood example with the additionally attractive feature of bobbin stretchers as well. The drawer with lock is a long one and is supported underneath by a central stretcher which runs the length of  the carcase. Made in Britain in the XVII century.

A simple version of an French country walnut gateleg table in ebony colour and white marble top with claw foot,  though the six claw legs are not as  good. The base is a single piece and it is generally more wormy but it makes an interesting comparison. Made in France in the 18th century and is a good example of antique Louis XVI style that you can easily identify.