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 heavy, being mainly made of oak in ponderous design, but from the late seventeenth century onwards many delightful forms of games and side tables in prevailing fashions were produced.
Value points: The common value points for examples illustrated are:
1. Top Surface. The first thing to strike the eye is usually the condition, patina and decorative figuring or inlays of the top surface. The more perfect and decorative this surface is, the more the .. rating will apply.
2. Structural Condition. This must again be good, particularly where folding tables are concerned. The Georgian and Regency card tables usually had side hinges to the folding top and these are often the cause of
damage, leading to unsightly patching, replacement and alteration. The legs and stretchers, if applicable, must be sound.
3. Legs. Depending on the period, the design and always the proportion of the legs must constitute a very important factor in the assessment of a side or games table. Carving on cabrioles, or moulding of straight legs, affects value. Legs are, of course, always liable to damage and their originality with the above points, constitutes an  factor.
4. Handles. Where a drawer or drawers are involved, original period handles constitute a  factor.
5. Shape. Later Georgian folding card tables on tapering square legs in designs generally associated with Hepplewhite and Sheraton are affected by an important factor: the shape of the top. If this is circular when
open, i.e. half round when shut, a .. factor may be assumed. Tables which are oval, or with geometrical straight sides do not attract as high a price. On these tables cross-banding of the square tapering legs constitutes a  factor.
A William and Mary period side table, c.1690, of a type generally found in walnut, but also frequently decorated with marquetry. The serpentine X stretcher is also found on earlier tables, but the inverted   form on the turned legs is more generally associated with William who brought over Dutch craftsmen from whom this form originates. The legs would be in solid walnut whereas the top, sides, drawer front and stretcher would be veneered.
Walnut side table of the post ‘Restoration’ period, c.1680. The twist turning so popular to the Restoration period continued to be used on the legs and stretchers of tables though simple turning still persisted. Walnut was by far the most favourite wood though oak by no means went out of use. While the legs and bun feet are solid walnut, the top and drawer fronts are veneered. The veneered stretcher is ‘Y’ shaped at each end, connected by an oval widening  intended for a bowl. It is more
common to have one drawer only and the best examples would be inlaid with marquetry panels.
Marquetry - Walnut - Oak
Mid-seventeenth century oak side table, c.1650, with two drawers in the frieze. Note the panelled shape of the drawer fronts, reminiscent of
chests of drawers of the period. The turned legs and square stretchers are still retained.
A solid walnut side table of William and Mary period, c.1690, with arched shaping of the frieze below the drawer. The X-shaped stretcher is well illustrated and the heavy turning and bun feet are typical. Note the
thumb-nail top edge moulding.
Value points: Proportion and quality of leg turning  Shaping of frieze
Country side table in fruitwood of William and Mary period. The baluster turning of the legs shows later characteristics but the country maker has retained the square stretchers and construction from an earlier period.
Note the drawer fitting tight under the lock rail and the square, pegged tenon joints. This type of table was made well on into the late eight= eenth century.
Small oak side table, c.1675. The simple column turning of the legs and the stretchers is of the same type as the gate-leg table illustrated earlier. The top is fixed to the framing with oak dowel pegs. The two drawers fit tight under the top without a lock rail in the framing. Note that there are now simple bun-like feet under the square leg-stretcher joints, which lift the stretchers slightly higher off the floor. On original undisturbed
pieces the dowels protrude above the level of the surface (stand proud).
A William III side table, c.1700, inlaid with seaweed marquetry. The thumb-nail moulding is ebonised. The double-scroll legs of square secticn are particular to this period and not to everyone’s taste, but the stretcher form and flat bun feet are typical. Seaweed marquetry of this quality demanded a high degree of skill and such pieces are increasingly rare.
Quality and area of decoration
A William III Walnut Card Table, c.1700, the oval folding top veneered outside and inside with burr-walnut, cross banded and with herringbone lines, the shaped frieze with three small drawers, on six tapering
octagonal legs including two rear gate-legs, united by stretchers, and with turned feet.

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  side, pad feet and square leg lowboys
In this section there are a lot of country or provincial pieces with the result that assessment of quality and hence value become more subjective than in the previous section. One may find a feature enormously attractive which to another collector has a glaring design fault. This is, after all, part of the fun of collecting but makes writing this section difficult.
In case anyone gets the idea that any cabriole is better than any pad foot this example will disillusion them. In pearwood with a glorious patination, attractive front fret and primitive drawer arrangement, it is a fine example of a country piece, the sort almost ignored up until the early 1960s. 1730-1740
832 In walnut with a quartered top and oval inlay in the centre. One immediately notices the broad deep ogee moulding which is a typical late walnut period feature. The legs are straight with only slight moulding on the
outside edge to relieve their rather dull appearance. One can see why the straight Chippendale legs are chamfered. c.1740
In terms of quality the Chippendale mahogany example deserves perhaps to come next. With a simple cock-beaded drawer arrangement, an attractive fret, and in a faded nut brown colour, this example is more elegant than the previous piece. The gap in the moulding is damage. c. 1760 Assume well restored.
n oak, turned legs with pad feet. It makes an interesting comparison with the next example. This has a better fret, half-round corners on the top (but not the quarter-round moulding of many of the pieces in the cabriole section). In addition the drawers fit better, but that may be condition rather than design. c.1730
A good wide overhanging top, genuine cockbeading and the side fret  in theory these should put this ahead of the previous example, but fail to do so because of the dull little fret. Notice that both examples have the
same type of moulding, a version as seen in 832, but of necessity flattened out as the wood is thinner; 832 is walnut veneered on pine which was cheaper than oak so that a deep moulding was more feasible. Knobs
here look later. c. 1755
1, 000Back to the Chippendale straight leg with a slight moulding to the outside edge. The drawers are marked with an incised line in an attempt to simulate cockbeading.
The charming fret makes it a much more attractive piece. c. 1755
The neo-classical demand for the tapered leg has not helped this heavily designed oak piece (which incidentally could be the best technically constructed piece in this section). Frankly not very desirable; 1780-1810
This example is, however, slightly smaller than the previous piece but the top has no moulding and the front is a little plain. The front incidentally is made out of two pieces of wood, a fact which does not necessarily
detract but does indicate a less generous attitude as demonstrated by the mean fret. However if it had superb patination all would be overlooked. c. 1735

TABLES  side, early, single drawer
We have separated out lowboys or dressing tables and have defined them as having three or four drawers, while side tables are defined as having one or at most two drawers.
The types are clearly related but side or centre tables are found well back into the early seventeenth century. However, for collecting purposes (i.e. availability) they start towards the end of the seventeenth century.
A charming fruitwood side table from the end of the seventeenth century with the typical column-shaped turnings that one associates with the mid-century. The square stretchers and thick top are also part of this design. However, the ogee fretted frieze indicates a later date. c. 1680
A superb olivewood oyster veneered side table with walnut spiral twist turned legs. The wavy stretcher is veneered on the top and the facing edge. This is a classic piece of the period. Note how the design is nearly identical to that for a chest on stand, and indeed one does see well-turned side tables with very poor tops (i.e. disposed stands often partly rebuilt), but this superb geometrically laid pattern could never have been intended for anything else than a side table top. c.1680
Moving on a decade, this marquetry piece with well-turned legs shows a later form of stretcher arrangement, one that country makers seemed to prefer to the last example; at any event it was widely copied. Note the inverted acorn in the turning near the bottom of the leg. The quality of the marquetry  of green stained bone and other warm colours  is important. c. 1690
Perhaps the country variant of the twists, though attractive, are only mere imitations of the original. c. 1700
An oak variation of 841. One is tempted to say country, but the turnings are excellent quality, bold and imaginative: only the earlier type of moulding round the drawer front suggests that it was made out of the fashionable area. c. 1700
An exuberant bobbin-turned stretcher structure derived from earlier pieces, c.1660, but the thick top with shallow moulding is of later date. A very popular design. c. 1690
A William and Mary design of crossover stretcher with slightly less interesting (though by no means bad) turning. One feels that the maker got into a mess at the bottom of the last round and didn’t quite see what to do so left it. He could perfectly well have repeated the top pattern at the bottom if he had measured correctly before he started. Thick moulding on top and below drawer. c. 1710
A much simpler fruitwood version of 845. Here the stretchers are of the normal type. The top and mouldings are very much the same and so is the date. c. 1690
Shows a delightful walnut table of very high quality both in design and execution, with cabriole legs of exceptional form in which the feet are ’stepped’ and the top contained within a fold backed by a scrolled shoulder under the frieze. The drawer is inlaid with an ebony and boxwood stringing line and cross-banded in cherrywood. c. 1710
An oak table cross-banded in walnut on the top and drawer front. The cabrioles are very pronounced and end on pointed feet. The shoulder pieces fit in well and the piece has a strong sturdy look without being over muscular. c. 1740
Shows a simpler, but still very high quality, version in cherrywood throughout, with cabriole front legs ending in pad feet and having a scrolled carving inside the knee. The drawer has an ovolo lip moulding and the back legs are the straight pad-footed type. A simple cross-band, also in cherry, decorates the edge of the drawer and top. c. 1720
A high quality example in dark Cuban mahogany. Notice how the cabrioles are just that bit more
restrained when compared with the last example. (By comparison with which, incidentally, it will weigh more than half as much again). The C scroll is well designed and executed and small carved decoration is
appearing above it. Notice the quarter round moulding we saw in the lowboy section on walnut, early for mahogany. The frieze could be more exciting. c. 1740
The introduction of the cabriole leg affected all furniture and, as we have seen with the lowboys, many interesting and very collectable examples were made. The development in design is predictable and clearly seen.
A country elm piece which fails to excite. The legs are chamfered and the moulding is a broad quarter-round which is repeated on the outside of the leg. In burr elm with a good deep rich colour one might treble the price.
A pad foot example with frieze, the drawer is scratched around the edge to look like cockbeading which suggests a date a shade later than the piece might otherwise be. c.1740
New classical elegance, serpentine front and tapered legs. A reasonable quality example, almost Hepplewhite  see the small square near the bottom of the leg which is a typical feature. c. 1780
Clearly from the restrained turned legs and the moulding a product of the early nineteenth century. In this design restraint is still the keynote; is there, one wonders, just the slightest hint in the tulip-shaped top of the leg that ‘things’ might soon be happening. c. 1800

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.

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. Single drawer in frieze – sham matching drawer at opposite end.
4. Bow-fronted end friezes on oval tables, matching curve.
5. Two fly brackets to each flap – three ‘knuckles’ to each hinge.
6. Side frieze inset to take width of closed brackets – flaps falling flush with straight sides of legs.
7. Correct height and proportions – flaps fall one-third the table height and may appear too shallow to the modern eye.
8. On oval Pembrokes, flaps should be generous enough in curve to hide the tops of legs and frieze when not raised.
9. Lock and lock rail to drawer.
10. Undersides of flaps in plain veneer of equal thickness.
11. Narrow overhang of top at either end, not exceeding 12 in.
Likely restoration and repair
12. Most prevalent minor damage is to legs, split and broken on slender extremities. `Collar’ applied to hide and strengthen repair.
13. One or both flaps damaged on hinge near edges, with consequent splitting of flap edge or table top along rule joint –repaired with some impairment to value.
14. Plain-surfaced mahogany veneer cut into with recent decorative panel to increase value. Grain of ground veneer will continue through in same direction.
15. Legs tapering on outsides as well as insides: indicates recent restoration or complete remake.
16. Straight ends to oval topped tables indicates new oval top on original square-shaped frame to increase value. Oval tops are worth more than squared shapes.
which was free-standing, unlike side tables of the period, with the added advantage of two flaps to increase the size of the surface. Its original function is unclear, but it was not destined for anything but ladylike use, being fragile in construction and usually richly decorated and veneered.
Pembroke tables did not really become universally popular until the 1770s, when they became some of the finest, most delicate pieces of furniture ever made in England.
The best Pembroke tables are oval in shape with the two side flaps raised. In this case the frieze of the underframe should be bow-fronted, following the curve of the top. They were also made with serpentine flaps and sides, and squared, with rectangular flaps, often richly decorated with inlay and
veneer. Whatever their shape, Pembroke tables always have slender square-sectioned tapering legs and their flaps, falling one-third of the height of the table, always have two supporting fly brackets on wooden hinges.
The squat, chunky, two-sided flap tables used in Victorian nurseries, passages and even bathrooms, bear no more resemblance to a real Pembroke table than a packing case does to a coffer. Yet they are far too frequently referred to by their antecedent’s illustrious name.
Narrow tables with two flaps supported with a single central pillar-type pedestal, or variations of the pillar-andclaw, or of `cheval’ construction are often also referred to as Pembroke tables. Correctly speaking, they are sofa tables.
Construction and materials
Pembrokes were made in a wide variety of woods and finishes: satinwood, and mahogany veneer inlaid with rosewood, laburnum, harewood, zebrawood, fruitwoods, delicate floral marquetry in swags and festoons as well as medallions, in many-coloured woods and dyed woods.
The frame was of beech or close-grained red or white pine. Fly brackets were often of plane-wood, which is white and harder than beech. With oval Pembroke tables, the flaps should be sufficiently deep in the curve to hide the frieze when not raised, including the tops of legs. The finest ovals also have a bow-fronted frieze. There was a single deep drawer at one end and a sham or dummy drawer to match at the opposite end.
The square-sectioned legs were always tapered on the inner sides, with the outside corners at right-angles to the floor. Each side flap, however small, was supported with two fly brackets, and each bracket had three ‘knuckles’, or hinges.
Detail
Undersides of flaps were in plain veneer of equal thickness to that of the surface. With one flap raised, the underside of the other should be clearly visible. The drawer front was inlaid and decorated as profusely as the top and flaps.
Height 2 ft 4 in including castors –Pembrokes were often on small cast-brass box castors. The proportions are narrow: the top being just over twice as long as the width, the flaps one-third its total height.
Variations
The ubiquitous two-flap, narrow table with one or two drawers, one either end of the frieze, has been made in a variety of solid woods since the end of the eighteenth century. Square, chamfered legs are sturdy versions of the delicate tapering legs, and in their component parts these little tables may sound similar in description, but they do not in any way add up to the fragile little ladies’ tables used in bedrooms, morning rooms for breakfasts, letter-writing and
Below: French: influencedserpentine version, c.1800.
mirror-gazing. The country way of life precluded such luxuries. Made of oak, elm, fruitwood, occasionally Virginia walnut, they were seldom if ever veneered but sometimes had boxwood stringing. Some country side tables with frieze drawers were made with two flaps extending on either side, but not all small two-flapped tables are Pembrokes. It is the narrowness and slenderness of line which distinguishes one from the other.
Reproductions
There are two main periods of reproductions: the Victorian Regency revival, during which reproductions were extremely well-made with proportions very nearly right, usually in darker toned West Indian satinwood veneer; and the Edwardian period where the tables were usually emasculated, thinned down to spindly pieces of furniture with no more use than to hold a bowl of flowers and a silver salver for cards. Better were the flapped tables – small square tables with triangular flaps opening out to larger squares.
Above: Sheraton-style, nineteenth-century reproduction.
Price bands
Rectangular, satinwood, inlaid and finely veneered, c.1790, £5,000+.
Bow-front, satinwood, high quality, c.1790, £6,000.
With fine veneers, c.1790, £2,000-3,000.
Plain, with little decoration, c.1790, £1,250-1,850.
Serpentine ‘French’, c.1800, £3,500-5,000.
Plain mahogany, nineteenth century,$300-450.