Dining tables

Tables

Dining tables, along with chests and stools, were among the first pieces of furniture built by humans. People needed a comfortable surface for eating and working. From the beginning, very massive tables were built so that several people could lean on them or even climb on them.

Tables from antiquity have hardly survived, but Gothic and Renaissance tables are still available, also in the art trade. Especially in the Renaissance, dining tables were artistically carved. There were various constructions of legs, often with traverses and footrests. Table tops were 5-10 cm thick. The solid character was still maintained until the end of the XIX century, with so-called refectory tables or in the country house style.

In castles and palaces, the constructions became lighter and lighter. In England and France, elegant mahogany dining tables had tops only 2-3 cm thick, which could be round, oval or rectangular and could be extended to several metres. Depending on their length, they had 4 to 10 filigree legs.

Countless leg constructions were designed and executed depending on the country, use and era.

The English model in the Regency style was particularly comfortable. It stood on three-legged pedestals in the middle, which allowed more knee room. It is still popularly produced in this form today.

The XVIII and XIX centuries saw the beginning of the great era of the occasional table as an indispensable and extremely practical part of upscale furnishing. The so-called “tables volantes” had no fixed place in the room, they were placed where they were needed. Sometimes a cup of tea was placed on it, sometimes a vase of flowers or a book. In a large residence, you could find 1-2 dozen side tables in various rooms.

From the middle of the XVIII century, we observe a great diversity in small furniture.

Popularised were, among others:

• Console table
• Play table
• Reading table
• Sewing kit table
• Flower table
• Gueridons
• Coiffeuses
• Toilet table

During the Louis XV and Louis XVI eras, small pieces of furniture, along with chests of drawers, became the most important pieces of furniture in an elegant salon. Even the most prominent ebenists such as Bernhard II Vanrisemburgh or Jean-Henri Riesener received numerous commissions from the royal court and high nobility.