William and Mary Period Carved Wood Table - A George I Period Table - A Virginian Walnut Table

Another walnut card table, c.1720, of the early eighteenth century with graceful cabriole legs decorated with shell motif on the knee and ending in ball and claw feet. The shaping for candle stands at the corners is
clearly shown, as are the inserted cups for counters.
William and Mary period carved wood table, c.1690, decorated with gilt and gesso. The decoration of furniture by gesso was done in order to economise in carving by giving a pattern in slight relief without the need to carve it. It was a rich man’s style and comparatively small quantities were made, chiefly small tables and mirror frames. The style appears to have had a relatively short duration, from 1700 to 1735.
A George I mahogany card table, c.1725, 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 eighteenth century.
A card table of Queen Anne period with fine cabriole legs, c.1710, ending in ball and claw feet. The knees show the shell and pendant husk motif, having a C scroll on the inside edge. Note the shaping at the corners.
The usual covering was green velvet or a plain polished wood surface as above. The method of extending the table, which folds to a side table when not in use, is of the ‘concertina’ action type. The cabriole legs are
‘hipped’ at the top i.e. continue above the line of the frieze in a scrolled shape.
Quality of hipped cabrioles, shell motif, bold ball and claw feet
A George 11 period card table, c.1730, in mahogany with shell motif on the cabriole logs. The shaped corners for candle stands are retained but the frieze is straight.
Price Range: 175  250
A George I period table, c.1725, 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. The top flap has
clearly been damaged at the side hinge and reversed to hang down behind the table. Originally it would have been flat, on the top of the table.
A George II mahogany side table, c.1740, 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 ball and claw feet. The top is a marble slab.
fora single table
A George II period games table, c.1730, in mahogany with turned tapering legs ending in pad feet. The inner right-hand back leg is on a gate which swings out behind the table to support the top when the upper flap is
opened over by means of its side hinges to produce the circular games top. This inside surface is usually covered in baize, with a broad cross-banding produced by the baize being inset into the surface. The lower flap also opens on side hinges to give access to the deep storage space behind the frieze, where gaming materials are kept. The table is a natural stylistic evolution of the walnut one ref. ST1258, and examples in solid and veneered walnut were made. Cabriole legs were also employed on same example. Note the slightly overlapping shaping at the top of the legs, sometimes extended to form a ‘fold’ at the top of the leg. The inside surfaces sometimes have ‘cups’ scooped out of them for holding the gaming counters as shown on ST1260 and ST1261.
Cabriole legs  Fold on legs
Virginian or Red’ walnut
Counter Cups
A George II, c.1740, folding top table in heavy mahogany. The cabriole legs ending in pad feet are a modification of earlier cabriole legs in that the earlier exuberance has been curbed and the leg is now much more restrained. These tables were probably multi-purpose, being used for both games and for refreshments such as tea. The left-hand back leg is on a gate, to swing open to support the top when folded over in the open position. Side hinges allow this folding action and, as with all card tables, tend to be a point of weakness or breakage over the years.
A Virginian walnut table of c.1720, with fine cabriole legs ending in spade feet. This table has lost its folding top but the centre drawer and shaping of the frieze are similar to earlier types. A provincial or country made
version of the finer examples.

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.

Queen Anne walnut dressing table - A Victorian folding walnut card-table - A George I period card table in mahogany - Small Walnut William and Mary period dressing table

A Queen Anne japanned dressing table and mirror set which Ulustrates clearly the form of the previous dressing table, but with octagonal legs. The arched front of the table has two turned acorn pendants. It is to be noted that the mirror is a particularly fine example, having abureau in miniature below it with stepped interior.
Another walnut card table of the early 18th century with graceful cabriole legs decorated with shell motif on the knee and ending in ball and claw feet. The shaping for candle stands at the corners is clearly shown, as
are the inserted cups for counters.
Small Walnut William and Mary period dressing table. The top would be veneered in walnut, quartered to give a symmetrical pattern from the figure, and with a ‘herring-bone’ 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, pasted 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.
A card table of William and Mary period with fine cabriole legs, ending in ball and claw feet. The knees show the shell and pendant husk motif, having a. C scroll on the inside edge. Note the candle-stands at the
corners. The usual covering was green velvet and the frame and rounded edge of the top are in cross-grained walnut. The method of extending the table, which folds to a side table when not in use, is of the
‘concertina’ action type.
Value points: Quality of hipped cabrioles, shell motif, bold ball and claw feet
Queen Anne walnut dressing table. 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.
Value points: Quality of cabriole legs  Original handles
Walnut dressing table, first 41 of 18th century. 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 thumbnail type. The top
veneer is quartered and cross banded;the drawers are edged with cock-beading and have a feather or herring-bone cross banding. The handles are not original. A poor photograph which makes the piece out of
proportion.
A George I period card table in mahogany with shell motif on the cabriole legs. The shaped corners for candle stands are retained but the frieze is straight.
A Virginian walnut table of c. 1720 with fine cabriole legs ending in spade feet. This table has lost its folding top but the centre drawer and shaping of the frieze are similar to the preceding example. A provincial or
country made version of the finer examples.
Price Range: (with folding top)
A late Victorian or Edwardian mahogany dining table. The square cornered influence of the late 19th century gives rise to mixture of designs which wholly fail to blend.
Value points: Mahogany
Examples are frequently to be found in oak.
A Victorian folding walnut card-table. Like the circular and oval 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.
Marquetry inlay
An early Victorian circular dining table of a type found in both mahogany and burr walnut veneer. The tripod carved base with its leaf, scroll and paw foot carving shows great exuberance and quality of execution. An
example of good Victorian cabinet work.
A mahogany late Victorian dining table with the heavy underframe and ponderously turned bulbous legs. The top is usually made of two or three leaves and the table can be of the extending type. Note that the edge moulding has become rather over emphasized.
Quality of leg turning  Figured woods

TABLES  dining, on four legs
A mahogany expanding dining table of a type often thought of as mid- or even late-Victorian but whose legs belie the later dates. Although the constructional form was used later, it originated in the 1830s and 1840s.
These legs are of a bulbous-and-baluster turning with collars, more popular initially in the 1840s than in the 1880s and later, where one might be tempted to place this piece. The examples of 1880-1910 incorporate the top bulb but the lower turning is straighter or tapering, less of baluster form. The piece does highlight the difficulty of dating Victorian furniture, however, since the use of this form of baluster at a later date is always possible.
Another large expanding Victorian mahogany dining table, this time with semicircular ends which can open to receive up to four flaps. The tapering reeded legs are of a design popular in the 1830s, featured by Smee in 1850 and still used in variant form in the 1880s.
An example of the previous type of table, adapted in style to be more ‘Sheraton’ in appearance, with square tapering legs and inlaid stringing lines. Available originally in a size 7ft. long by 4ft. wide. 1890-1915
Four examples of the leg styles available in the late Victorian and Edwardian era. From almost-art-nouveau through ‘oak’ to ‘Queen Anne’.
A mahogany extending dining table which, with its three leaves inserted is 2ft. 6ins. wide by 10ft. long. The top, shown here without leaves is slightly serpentine in shape and has an edge decorated with a blind fret.
The tapering rectangular legs have patera at the top and carved husk decoration. An example of 18th century Georgian designs used on a modern table. 1900-1925
A cabriole leg dining table which can be extended on the ‘draw table’ principle (i.e. by extra leaves under the top), thus combining stylistically ‘Queen Anne’ shaping with a 16th century construction. From Maurice
Adams. c. 1926
A mahogany dining table designed by J. Henry Sellers (18611954), an Arts and Crafts Society architect-designer who tended to produce expensive furniture with Edgar Wood. The top is banded with ebony and, clearly, the ends are detachable in the manner of the 18th century ‘D’ end dining table. Designed en suite with the sideboard shown as 470. c. 1925
Illustrations from The Woodworker magazine of 1928 showing four versions of the popular small draw-extension table used in small houses, with subsequent directions for the do-it-yourself enthusiast on how to construct the piece. Interesting that the lower left version was entitled ‘modern’ in design at that date, even though its square baluster legs and cross stretchers are derived from traditional tables. 1920-1940
The vogue for the medieval led to a tremendous rise in demand for oak furniture of suitably aged appearance from the 1880s onwards. ‘Old oak’ refectory and dining tables might be made up from old pieces (just as
`coffers’ might be made from three-panel carved bed-heads) or simply reproduced new and ‘aged’ by various processes. It was not always the intention to deceive, nor is it so now.
We show a small selection here to show how close some versions came to the original and to advise the reader to be warned; old reproductions of good quality are worth about half the value of the originals.

TABLES  tripods and candlestands to 1770
These evolved from candlestands which came to Britain at the Restoration. They were extremely useful and the design was adapted over the years to provide support for a wide range of objects from wine to books.
A walnut spiral turned example with baluster form at the top. The rectangular sectioned S scroll legs meet on an octagonal platform which echoes the shape of the top which is quartered and cross-banded in walnut.
c. 1680
Although a countrified version of the above with flatter feet and a burr elm top which has warped, the turning is excellent quality and has the thick snake-like coils at just the pitch which one associates with the best late seventeenth century work.
There does not seem to have been an identifiable ‘Queen Anne’ tripod style (for that matter there is not a ‘Queen Anne’ dining table), so one moves on from the rare turned base supported by three buns, c.1690, to the elegant walnut column stem table with a dished yew top. Note the remains of the platform still discernible where the legs meet. c. 1725
The low feet and heavy barrel turned stem suggest an early date for this fine heavy, slightly squat, Cuban mahogany tripod table. It has the desirable ‘birdcage’ method of fixing top to stem. Notice that the pillars of the birdcage have the same barrel turning as the stem  this suggests originality. c. 1735
Not a flattering photograph of a top quality Chippendale example. A fine piecrust edge to the top and baluster shaped knop at the base of the column. The legs are heavily decorated. Note that the carving stands out from the knee as opposed to being sunk into it as it would were it fake. A beautiful crisply carved example. c.1750
An example of a wine table with a turned spindle gallery around the top. Again good quality but plainer. The knop has spirally turned reeding and the only carving is on the knee. c. 1760
A good comparison with example 892. Conceptually it is the same design and indeed it is a fine table, but not of the same quality the carving is less deep and the top rim is weak. c.1750
Perfectly plain standard tripod shown in the stowaway position. Notice the good quality mahogany with a grain showing. No birdcage, which would help the price slightly. c. 1770
A Victorian attempt to copy the style of pieces in this section. The shapings of the legs and columns are an indication, but the vertical grooves in the upper part of the column and the finial under the base are the
giveaways; Victorians loved these finials. A pretty table maybe, but not Georgian by any stretch of the imagination. c. 1870

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

Queen Anne drop-leaf table

Although popularly known as `Queen Anne’, the drop-leaf table did not really come into widespread use until mahogany
Signs of authenticity
1. Heavy weight of mahogany –San Domingo or Cuban.
2. Grain of flaps and central fixed top all running parallel to joins.
3. Each piece of table top cut from a single piece of timber.
4. Underframe of thick solid timbers of oak or close-grained red pine.
5. Scrape marks on under
surface where gate has been opened and closed.
6. No screw holes or bore holes of any description on any part of undersurface.
7. Patination under flaps and on sides of gates where they have been constantly handled.
8. Thickness of timber would be a minimum of 1 in.
9. Flaps correctly proportioned to legs when not raised.
10. Wooden hinges with three `knuckles’.
11. Rule joints and hinges with thumb-moulding continuing round full circumference of top.
12. Circular tables seating four until c.1740, then squared table tops as well as circular.
13. Correct height – 2 ft 4 in for dining tables.
Likely restoration and repair
14. Legs broken and replaced, particularly on gates. Grain either running right across from underframe or breaking on a line with bottom of underframe where replacement has been pegged in.
15. Gates broken on hinges and repaired with white pine,
stained.
16. Flaps split, cracked from weight of wood on hinge.
Repaired but weakened. A break in grain, thick streak of fake patination will indicate plugged crack.
17. Replaced flaps with slight difference in thickness, duller patina and signs of old screw holes on undersurface, or new hinges with machine-turned screws.
became available, after the end of Queen Anne’s reign. The earliest drop-leaf tables were also made of Virginia walnut from c.1720 onwards, when supplies of good French walnut ceased. The curving cabriolelike leg, terminating in pad feet or a more elaborate ball-andclaw foot, is distinctive of the period generally known as Queen Anne, but the style continued well into the reign of George i. Not until then were dining habits adapted to the Continental style, with all the diners seated round a large table, with matching chairs, dinner service and glasses. Until then the English custom of serving food from a long buffet-style table was prevalent and smaller dining tables were mainly in use in the morning room and parlour for occasional
meals such as breakfast when small numbers of the household sat down at different times. The drop-leaf table was a more sophisticated version of the gate-leg table, with four legs only, two of which hinged out to support the flaps on either side. Drop-leaf tables were circular at first, but from c.1740 square flaps became more popular, because they could accommodate more people in comfort.
Tables for eating off were made in solid wood and were not veneered because of the damage that might be caused by spillages or hot dishes. The advantage of mahogany was that it was immensely dense and strong, did not warp or bend and, unlike walnut, was impervious to worm.
Construction and materials
The technique of making chests and chests of drawers with a carcase of different woods spread to table making, and the drop leaf table is among the earliest to have an underframe of oak or close-grained red pine, with the main parts of solid mahogany or Virginia walnut. A few very fine tables were also made in English walnut, but they are rare to find. As with the gate-leg table, the legs continue up in one piece to the underside of the top, whether on the hinged or fixed leg. The gates of drop-leaf tables formed part of the underframe construction and had wooden or brass hinges with three ‘knuckles’.
Most drop-leaf tables were never very large, and at most seat six on later, square shapes, and four on circular tables of the earlier period. There are conflicting dates for the first general use of mahogany, but as a rough guide it can be said that except for isolated and exceptional
Variations
Period country versions were made in oak, or elm, or oak and elm with stretchered frame and gates, as simplified drop leaf tables. The balance of a genuine four-legged drop-leaf table is hard to achieve, and some drop-leaf country versions are found with half-legs folding against each other when the flaps are down, opening to a six-legged table when raised, but few of these have survived.
Simple column turning persisted in oak on legs of Georgian drop-leaf tables, plain chamfered legs being the later period alternative. Good country versions follow the rules of mahogany drop-leaf tables: the grain runs parallel to joins which cases, it was not used for furniture before 1730-35. From that date until the 1750s, when duties and taxes were lifted, mahogany was imported in ballast, and its quality varies considerably, although most furniture-makers preferred to use the best, fine-grained, dense San Domingo or Cuban timber.
Detail
Brass rule hinges set close to the edge of the table, secured with round-ended hand-turned screws, were countersunk into the underside of the fixed top and flap, which had a rule join, with the moulding continuing round the full circumference of the table. Legs were high-curving, virtually cabriole, with plain pad feet or hoofed feet are thumb-moulded, hinges set well in, approximately over legs when flap is down, but the grain of underframe is vertical for strength; dowelling persisted long after it was replaced with screws in mahogany versions. Traditional methods of construction were used for country pieces long after they had been superseded by improved techniques.
Below left: George II provincial drop leaf in oak, with pad feet, it has slightly wider fixed table top than mahogany versions.
Below right: late seventeenth-, early eighteenth-century country version.
Reproductions
Nineteenth century
Plain rectangular square-legged drop-leaf small dining tables were manufactured from c.1840 onwards in light-weight African mahogany, cheap Honduras mahogany or baywood. They usually have deeper flaps, falling quite close to the floor. The construction of early drop leafs is difficult to reproduce and has a limited market in commercial terms.
Later versions of simplified gate-legged tables have been made continuously through to this century, as general purpose tables for domestic households, hotels and public buildings, and as dining tables for the average home. Poor-quality materials, machine-cut timbers, coarse-grained pine underframes and lack of craftsmanship in detail and proportion indicate mass-manufacture.
Price bands
Fine quality mahogany, $1,500-1,800.
Country version in oak, £800-1,200.
Gate-leg version in oak, £750-1,000.
Fruitwood (flaps in two pieces), £1,000-1,250.
c.1800, reeded leg, £650-1,800. Early nineteenth-century plain mahogany, 1300-500.
Below: late eighteenth-century drop leaf, c.1800.

Folding card table

Separate tables for playing cards became popular during the reign of Queen Anne and were built on the same construction principles as gate-leg and drop-leaf tables, except
Signs of authenticity
1. Patination of whole inner surface from constant polishing of cards and hands.
2. Frieze not too deep to make sitting uncomfortable.
3. Correct height, about 2 ft 6 in.
4. Matching front and back legs of equal quality.
5. Decoration and carving always incised and not applied.
6. Patination on hinge, gate or concertina part of frame where it has been constantly handled.
7. No saw marks on bottom edges of serpentine friezes.
8. No signs of boreholes on inner front of concealed drawer where handles have been
removed and veneered over.
9. On concealed drawers, patination on near underside where it has been pulled out from beneath.
10. Drawers lined with oak.
11. Cross-cut veneer framing to inset cloth panels on veneered tables.
12. On solid wood tables, no inset cloth panels.
13. Heavy weight for size —later, mahogany from West Africa was less dense and
coarser grained.
Likely restoration and repair
14. Inset panel of baize or even leather on solid wood tables: damaged surface planed out and panel inset — grain will run in one direction only on surround.
15. New underframe, usually gate-leg variety: side table converted to card table using original legs but new frame.
16. Serpentine frieze cut from plain frieze to increase value: frieze will be too shallow on upper curve.
17. Thumb or lip moulding around table edges: indicates top made up from small square table, usually Victorian.
that the flap folded over the top of the fixed surface. In Queen Anne and early Georgian days their playing surfaces were not always inset with baize or velvet, for these tables were also used for taking tea and were made in solid wood, either walnut or mahogany. By c.1730, however, with a proliferation of small decorative tables for many purposes, the card table was often veneered and lined with baize or velvet, its corners rounded for holding candlesticks, and the playing surface dished with small containers for counters. This type of card table often had cabriole legs, crisply carved with a scallop shell, acanthus or lion’s mask, and although not necessarily made en suite with chairs of the period, are recognizably contemporary.
The best card tables of the Georgian period have both back legs on hinges which swing out to support the flap, using the same construction as the drop-leaf table, or have both legs on a separate frame which either slides out or opens out with a concertina action. It is sometimes said that the back legs of card tables are of poorer detail because when not in use they stood, like side tables, against a wall. This is debatable, since when in use card tables were free-standing and all four legs were equally important.
Folding card tables were frequently made in pairs, but it is extremely rare to find that the two have remained together undamaged over such a long period of time.
Construction and materials
Card tables were made with several different methods of construction to enable the folding flap to be supported. The earliest method was the same principle as the gate-leg table, with both back legs swinging out on wooden hinges to an angle of 45 degrees so that the back legs squared up with the front legs. From c.1760 many card tables had a separate sliding frame, on to which the back legs were attached, and which pulled out on runners to extend to double the width, and so support the table top. From c.1780 a novel hinged wooden concertina action doubled back on itself to fold neatly into the underframe. Many card tables had a single drawer in the frieze, concealed and without handles from c.1770 onwards.
Detail
Card tables were either rectangular, with elliptical corners to hold candlesticks, or demi-lune opening to a circular table. From the middle of the eighteenth century, in line with fashionable design, many were made with serpentine shapes. The round-cornered rectangular shape and the elongated demi-lune opening to an oval are both of later date.
Early versions had simple cabriole legs and pad feet to c.1740, after which they were more richly decorated with carved scallop shells, acanthus leaves, lion masks, and ball-and-claw feet. Until c.1770, edges closed flush and were undecorated. From c.1770 many were made with carved and fretted decorations to legs and frieze.
Because of their function, card tables had to be smooth with an unbroken surface. The display sides of the flaps were sometimes discreetly veneered, or inlaid with featherbanding or small panels of decorative marquetry, and always edged with cross-cut veneer.
Variations
Almost all country versions continued to be made on the old construction principles long after mahogany and better-quality tables were constructed with improved methods, using screws rather than nails, brass rather than steel hinges, and drawers on runners. Mortise-and-tenon joints and dowelling, drawers sliding on a single bearer, no lock rail above the drawer in the frieze were characteristic.
They are found in a variety of woods: oak, simply made with plain straight legs, undecorated with no moulding or carving to table edges; also in oak and elm, preferably with oak table top and flap, and in elm and fruitwood. If in fruitwood alone, there was minimal decoration and legs were chamfered down the backs.
Pairs: Matching pairs of card tables are worth considerably more than singles. Sadly all too often one of them is a recent copy of the original. The clue is to turn them upside down. There is no way of matching age and patination on a new underframe. Where a skilful hand has been at work, patination and marks may be there, but a carbon copy of the genuine one — an impossibility on a true pair.
Above right: D-shaped folding card table of late Georgian style, a type much copied in the late Victorian and Edwardian period. Left: Sheraton period demi-lune in light mahogany veneer.
Reproductions
Nineteenth century
Satinwood demi-lune card tables of Adam style have a more fragile construction and are of later date. Card tables were largely supplanted during the Regency period by ‘games tables’ with fitted compartments, drawers for backgammon, chequers, chess, etc., and the circular `loo’ table named after the fashionable card game of the day.
Many card tables in a poor state of repair have had their flaps removed, their back legs fixed to the frame and have become side tables.
Twentieth century
Edwardian reproductions of later satinwood tables are the most common, and are often known as ‘bridge’ tables. Few variations or reproductions are in solid woods — most are veneered, and their construction is far more flimsy than the thick-timbered solid-framed.
Price bands
Queen Anne, walnut, £5,000+.
Georgian solid walnut, hinged leg, ball-and-claw feet, £1,300-1,800.
Same period and design, with concertina action, 11,500-1,900.
Sheraton period, 12,100-3,500.
D-shape, early nineteenth century, £800-1,200.