A William and Mary Period Side Table - Mid-seventeenth Century Oak Side table - A William III Walnut Card Table
Probably one of the most collected forms of antique furniture is the occasional side table which is both decorative and sometimes functional. Early forms of side table of the seventeenth century are perhaps a little too [...]
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 [...]
TABLES reading, writing and artists
Architects’ tables were large and solid; others were of lighter construction and designed to fit in with furnishings in the fine reception rooms. The best are to be counted among the most elegant furniture. Even the inelegant are loved collectors love pieces that do things.
A much more simple reading table with [...]
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 [...]
Pembroke table
This slender, elegant table was first made, so it is said, at the request of the Countess of Pembroke, around 1750. It was an all-purpose occasional table
Signs of authenticity
1. Legs always tapered from inside only: outside corners of legs form right angles with floor.
2. Tops of legs continuing up to form side-frame of drawer.
3. [...]
Late XVIII Century Tables
18th Century tables, although not described as such in Chippendale’s Director, were a new type of table. During the first half of the 18th century, people tended to sit at small tables to eat, arranged in groups in a dedicated eating room.
Around the 1750s, people began to eat at longer tables. Quite [...]
Occasional Tables
In the 18th century occasional tables became more varied in style. They were small and light, and so could be moved into reception rooms as required. Many of these tables were highly
decorative, but gradually they became more utilitarian and were often designed for specific purposes.
A passion for games and gambling resulted in a proliferation [...]