Posts Tagged ‘veneer’

Antique Library Tables

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Library table
In its most general meaning, a library table is simply a table used for writing or reading in the library of a grand house. The term covers a wide variety of tables, from the slender eighteenth century writing table derived from the French bureau plat, to the solid drum-shaped tables which were smaller versions [...]

Antique Tilt Top Tables

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Tilt top table
The predecessor of the Victorian tilt-top is the eighteenth-century tripod table and its contemporary cousin, the breakfast or supper table, also known as a ’snap-top’ table. In its original form, like all dining-room furniture, the snap-top was made in solid, well-grained mahogany with little embellishment except for cross-cut veneered bands of contrasting inlay. [...]

Antique Sutherland Tables

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Sutherland table
These slim, practical folding tables were reputedly named after Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland, Mistress of the Robes to Queen Victoria during the early decades of her long reign. The combination of a cheval-type construction and gate-leg is far more successful and elegant than it sounds and they are among the few really successful designs [...]

Antique Drop-leaf Tables

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

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. [...]

Antique Side Tables

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Side table
1. Grain running from side to side of table top.
2. On solid woods, considerable figuring where timber was split rather than sawn.
3. Back edge of table top sometimes unfinished, with no overhang.
4. Drawers of oak, carcase wood of oak. Pine drawers or other parts of carcase in period piece indicate Dutch origins.
5. Where there [...]