TABLES  smallish tripod and quadripod, 1800-1850
At first antique tripod tables followed the same form as the larger single tables but, with the inventiveness of the Regency period, individual designs emerged. The Victorians produced small Victorian tripod tables with four small legs which strictly speaking do not belong in the same section but which, for the sake of convenience, have been included.
A more decorative treatment of the same basic design Sweeps to the top and bottom of the legs are emphasised with applied brass rosettes. The stem is tapered and ringed, the top has a rim. Value is enhanced by the fact that the height is adjustable. Anything which moves, adjusts or can be fiddled with seems to command a premium. c. 1815
A turn of the century mahogany table, showing plain classical elegance. The legs have a clean simple curve and the stem is decorated with spiral reeding. The top is cross-banded in satinwood. c. 1800
If you look at page  you will notice that many high quality ‘hairy feet’ have wings or spurs at the back and one can see that they provide a good balance by supporting the base over a reasonable area, instead of
looking as though they were screwed on at the end. This is a well-thought-out mahogany design, the sturdiness of which is justified by the heavy marble top. c. 1825
A novel little four-legged table note its quality and the scroll behind the hairy feet. Curious that the carved Chippendale vase is retained on the centre column. The flaps have well-matched veneers which meet when the table is in the erected position, giving a fine effect. One of the best of its sort.
It really is hard to be charitable about this horrible little table. Loudon
(1833) had the same problem about a fairly revolting sofa table of the period. “The justness of this criticism will appear more obvious, by applying it to the table… which has two supports more highly enriched by
carving than those of any of the other pieces and yet has a plain top. This is in bad taste and ought not, in a work like the present, to be passed over without notice.” Quite right. Not only is the top plain but out of
proportion to the base and the decoration seems mindless. c.1830
Loudon would approve this design because both top and bottom have ,enrichments’, but he might, like the present writer, be happier with it if the two sets of beading had been more of a size. c.1830
A conventional papier mache floral and gilt, with mother-of-pearl inlay, tilt-top table. Well decorated and elegant with the shape of the top helping to create an interesting piece. A good compact pedestal. c. 1840
Typical small mahogany tripod table of the period. Commercially not desirable. Not enough decoration for the Continental buyer and too small for a cheap dining table. Same design still offered by Light in 1881. 1830-1850
The use of iron was an obvious method of obtaining the maximum decoration as cheaply as possible. Once the mould was made presumably any number could be cast. Again the quality of painting is important. The
price in this case is helped because the painting is topographical  shipping on the Clyde. c. 1850
A good papier mache table with a delightful hop harvest scene painted on the top. If one can discover the artist or if it is by Jennens and Bettridge then the value will be more than quoted. c. 1850
Made over a considerable period of time, a form of simple table which was produced in huge quantities. The baluster-shaped turning on the pedestal is competent but attempts too much. Basically 1830s

TABLES  writing and library
A round or multi-sided library table, with a number of drawers, supported on a central base, normally a pillar, is referred to in the antique trade as a ‘rent’ or `drum top’ table. By tradition they were used to keep account of rents paid and due, for some tables have initials on the drawer fronts. In some cases false drawers alternate with genuine ones, while others have false books or spaces for real books. They first appear at the end of the eighteenth century and command high prices.
An extremely fine rent table with a central well shown open. A plain cannon turning and three well-shaped legs with decorative carving down the centre. The feet have a turned over scroll effect. c. 1790
A superb example almost identical with one illustrated by Sheraton. Extremely elegant on four ormolu paws. The applied moulding to the doors is typically neoclassical.
By comparison with the previous example, not so successful for it is let down by the ‘unrelieved square plinth. It has, however, inlaid initials on each drawer. It is veneered in good quality mahogany on a square stand with door. The only additional decorative treatment is a white stringing line.
c. 1800
A typical late Georgian round library table with blank spaces instead of false drawers. The four reeded legs show a well-balanced curve.
A slightly later example, though the similarities with the previous example are strong. The same flat moulding and tooled leather top. The higher knee provides the clue to the date. c. 1790
Another bad attack of Regency knee with the applied turned pieces on either side. The legs are no longer reeded and the general effect lacks elegance. However, the piece is in rosewood which does help the price though the cracks across the top, if indeed that is what they are, would depress it. c. 1825
Almost an occasional table because it is small but the drawers suggest it should go into this section. The price is less because of its size but this is no reflection on its excellent quality. c. 1790

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 adjustment by a series of notches, but none the less an elegant piece in the same rococo style as the first example. It has a good deep patination and one should not underestimate the desirability of metal fittings even when as simple as the band round the top of an elegant dark tripod. The band is, of course, part of the vertical adjustment fittings. c. 1760
A superb Chippendale example of a mahogany reading table with elegant curved supports and well carved tripod legs. The small repetitive decorative design sets off the bottom edge of the table. It is almost identical to, if not the pair of, one in the Victoria and Albert Museum and as provenance or comparability are important, especially in high quality pieces, the price is substantial. c. 1760
The well-shaped feet and solid gun barrel turning suggest the date. Two slides either side provide space for glasses, spectacles, etc. The adjustable top, controlled from beneath for height, folds down to make a rectangular leather topped tripod table. c. 1770
Again, elegance is the keynote of this superb piece which has two facing adjustable stands and folds down into a tripod table. The square box-like projection has two drawers, inlaid at the edges, which held rosin and hence the piece must have been a double music stand. The candlesticks are adjustable at three points. It is made in satinwood and cross-banded in a darker wood and again in rosewood at the edges. It has a lovely mellow colour and original patination. c. 1790
A good design for a table which can be made into a reading table. The front drawer is, of course, false, as are the ones on the opposite sides, hence the piece qualifies for a centre table. The flexibility enhances the value. The fact that it is in partridge wood adds considerably to the interest, since, although the little piece is solid and heavy, it has specks of brown and dark red which, being mellowed, will give it a good tone.
A well-made artist’s table (perhaps strictly not quite big or solid enough for an architect’s) with drawer under. The top comes down to make a not inelegant quatrepod. The ivory keyholes and reeded top to the legs suggest the date.
A mahogany adjustable reading table with feet and turned stretchers that seem to be anticipating a stack of folio ledgers or the weight of a collapsed bibliophile. Note the two fine tulip-shaped candleholders with elegant curved supports. c. 1820
A good, honest, Georgian mahogany reading table. It has tapering legs and slide and the usual adjustable top. From the point of view of design the small drawer bolted on the side seems an afterthought and detracts from the line of the piece. c. 1790
Shows a very good early form in oak, with cross-stretcher between the legs and ogee curves under the frieze edged by a small lip moulding. The simple drawers have a double-D moulding on the carcase around them and the legs show turned inverted cup or ‘bell’ forms which is a Dutch influence. The handles are period. Note the thinness of the top and compare with chests of the period and slightly earlier. c.1700
The classical Queen Anne walnut type  in fact of George I period  with veneered surfaces and solid cabriole legs ending in pad feet. The drawers are edged with herring-bone crossbanding and the top is quartered, inlaid with herring-bone and cross-banded. The  handles may well be original. c. 1720

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.

TABLES  dining, mahogany gateleg, shaped foot, 1735-1760
Just as the stretchers disappeared from chairs in the early part of the eighteenth century, so mahogany dining tables rid themselves of stretchers at much the same time. Perhaps it was the strength of mahogany or simply the desire to refine. Whatever the reason, some superb tables emerged. Good quality examples are perhaps current738 (opposite page, top left) Elegant use of the pied-debiche foot from which the cabriole originated, decorated with the ram’s head. The cabriole is beautifully executed. The top pieces, each
of one plank, are without warp or twist. The rule joints are in immaculate condition. Heavy Cuban mahogany at its best.
Another example with pied-de-biche foot and the little projection behind it, but with a simple decoration on the knee and a small scroll either side. The top has the same thumb-nail mould but each flap is made up of two planks. All features which, together with smaller size, reduce the price. c. 1740
Conventional cabrioles with ball-and-claw again. Well executed but looking almost clumsy against 738. In fact by itself an elegant table. A walnut style carried on into mahogany. 1730-1740
Without the panache of 738, but undeniably elegant in dark, almost figureless Cuban or Spanish mahogany. These pieces are enduringly made and, when this book was first written in 1978, were undervalued, but the price has since doubled. Shown both closed and open to make the point that such a table fulfils the dual purpose of elegant side table and comfortable dining table for four to six people. Appears to have glorious patination.
With gently curved cabrioles, which like the previous example have a simple C scroll at the top, this table could be walnut period but is in fact mahogany. The moulding is slightly unusual with only a very shallow depression and a very wide flat curve almost like a Victorian slope. Rectangular flaps are not as popular as oval. c. 1750
The more simple pad foot version on a straight leg of tapering circular section which, in comparison with 741, gives the unfortunate impression that the weight of the flap is proving exhausting. Nevertheless, very English in concept and clearly related to its country cousin in oak.
Quite literally the oak version of 743. Interesting to see the heavy structure beneath as though the maker would have preferred the old oak method. c. 1760

TABLES  dining, refectory
Oak tables of the seventeenth century, with their rectangular boarded tops, are now generically referred to by their Victorian title of refectory tables. They evolved from trestle-supported boards, and developed into more sophisticated bulbous-legged tables and draw tables (tables with second leaves under, which pulled out to extend the table) in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These bulbous-legged tables became more refined as the seventeenth century wore on and from about 1650 onwards more types of table became available, starting with the gateleg.
There are two schools of thought about the smaller type one commonly sees today. The first says that they were side tables, hence the decoration on the frieze is seen on one side only. The second suggests that they were on a raised dais with the decoration and the V.I.Ps who dined at the table facing those at lower tables. When one thinks back to the wainscot chair section and the throne concept, the second line of thinking rings true. For practical entertaining purposes tables less than 2ft.6ins. wide should be avoided as they
break up even the smallest dinner party.
Refectory tables sometimes acquire new tops and it is essential to check for signs of age on each, though new end cleats are perfectly acceptable. The bases should be slightly stained or a little rotted, where damp and stone floors have taken their toll. Refectory tables have been widely faked and reproduced.
The original gateleg tables were fairly crude and simple, with column turning of the legs. Later ones developed more elaborate and decorative turning, including the stretchers.
The gateleg form continued to be used with variation, through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, incorporating the stylistic features of the oak, walnut, mahogany and other periods. Early oak gateleg tables had the top held on by wooden pegs, but in later tables the top is screwed on from underneath.
The disadvantage of the gateleg is that its legs tend to be in the way of those seated at it and in the Georgian period a popular table was the D-end, connected by essentially one or more drop-flap tables which could be used to lengthen it. This, however, had the same disadvantage as the gateleg table, in that there were still a lot of legs to avoid and so the centre pedestal table, with one or more pedestals, came into being. These pedestal dining tables have remained popular ever since, for they can accommodate varying
numbers of people without legs getting in the way.
Refectory tables are now really rather a rich man’s affair, which is not surprising if you look at this example, which is mid-seventeenth century with elaborately carved bulbous legs and massive construction, needing the right type of room to set it off. It has a good old-looking top. As always there should be plenty of patination  caused by greasy fingers  on the underside stopping sharply where the frame meets the top. Stretchers open to doubt because they should come flush with legs, not be inset as here.
A good 9ft. oak example with six-column cannon (or sometimes gun barrel) turnings to the legs. Carving of lunettes along the frieze. The stretchers look a trifle thin compared with other examples shown. The fewer planks used to make up the top of a refectory table, the better. If in walnut with a good colour, add about 3,000. c. 1640
The vase-shaped turning suggests a date in the very early eighteenth century. Just under Eft long, this is a very pretty little oak table in which you can see the age on the stretchers, a mixture of rot and wear showing an irregular effect, not the smooth simulated wear of the fake. c.1720
Not really a refectory table at all  it is a farm table of a type which has become very popular for country kitchens and dining rooms, but its provenance is clear from the previous illustrations. These tables were made in oak, elm, pine and country woods throughout the eighteenth and into the nineteenth centuries until the turned leg was imposed on them.
When buying, do make sure that your favourite dining chair will allow you to sit at the table as the frieze is sometimes too low. Price will be increased by fruitwood with a good glowing colour, hence the wide price range. Late 18th century