Does anyone have information about this table?
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Victorian Furniture thread on victorianforum.com · started May 10, 2009 by anakin48 · 4 posts, 4 image attachments · discussion in 2009.
Does anyone have information about this table? Its age? Where it might have been made? What it was used for? Does it have any value (I was going to sell it on craigslist until I looked at it a bit more carefully)? Any information you could provide would be very greatly…
Does anyone have information about this table? Its age? Where it might have been made? What it was used for? Does it have any value (I was going to sell it on craigslist until I looked at it a bit more carefully)? Any information you could provide would be very greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Not a clue here but i'll guess english late victorian, is the wood oak? The apron is Queen Anne & the feet Empire (late empire or pillar & scroll).
These are generally called "spool tables" because of the way the legs are turned. This type of turning was part of the Elizabethan Revival, which was a sub-style of the larger Gothic Revival, and was popularized in America by Andrew Jackson Downing in his book "The Architecture of Country Houses" (1850). The Jenny Lind or spool bed is part of the same family. It was on a variant of the spool bed that Abraham Lincoln died.
Spool tables were used as work and lamp tables with the shelf being a handy place to keep a sewing basket. They are invariably made of black walnut and produced by furniture factories everywhere from the 1850s to about 1880. I have my great grandmother's spool table and I believe she received it when she was married in 1879. The drop finials at the corners of the top make your table better than many and I think it dates from 1855-65. Later examples are less well made and less sturdy.
I've attached a copy of the page in the 1858 Foster and Lee catalogue showing their version of a spool table. Your table is identical to the one in the engraving except for the position of the shelf and added finials. Foster and Lee called themselves dealers, not manufacturers, suggesting they did not actually make furniture but wholesaled it to cabinetmakers and retail furniture dealers. My photocopy of their catalogue was made from an original copy originally owned by an Ontario cabinetmaker.
I've also attached a photo of a home in Ottawa, Ontario taken in 1896 showing how one such table was used.
In Ontario these tables sell quite cheaply. $175 was the top price a few years ago. Now one can get an nice example for less than $100.
Spool tables were used as work and lamp tables with the shelf being a handy place to keep a sewing basket. They are invariably made of black walnut and produced by furniture factories everywhere from the 1850s to about 1880. I have my great grandmother's spool table and I believe she received it when she was married in 1879. The drop finials at the corners of the top make your table better than many and I think it dates from 1855-65. Later examples are less well made and less sturdy.
I've attached a copy of the page in the 1858 Foster and Lee catalogue showing their version of a spool table. Your table is identical to the one in the engraving except for the position of the shelf and added finials. Foster and Lee called themselves dealers, not manufacturers, suggesting they did not actually make furniture but wholesaled it to cabinetmakers and retail furniture dealers. My photocopy of their catalogue was made from an original copy originally owned by an Ontario cabinetmaker.
I've also attached a photo of a home in Ottawa, Ontario taken in 1896 showing how one such table was used.
In Ontario these tables sell quite cheaply. $175 was the top price a few years ago. Now one can get an nice example for less than $100.
Great info, Canadian Maple and welcome to both you and anakin48 to the site.
I have an Elizabethan Revival in the same vein as this with jigsaw-cut fretwork on the sides and a middle shelf. Will post pics when I get near them.
as an aside, anakin48, it appears you're from Hawaii. Be sure to see my Hawaiian Victorian blog posts on Rare Victorian if you haven't already. My brother lives there and located a great book on Hawaiian furniture.
I have an Elizabethan Revival in the same vein as this with jigsaw-cut fretwork on the sides and a middle shelf. Will post pics when I get near them.
as an aside, anakin48, it appears you're from Hawaii. Be sure to see my Hawaiian Victorian blog posts on Rare Victorian if you haven't already. My brother lives there and located a great book on Hawaiian furniture.