the South of stormy times, when the colonists lived in fear of the Indians lurking at their door, and the men of the house came back from the long struggles to tell their stories around this table. It is true, however, that the majority of the gate-legs were used as dining tables—those with eight legs undoubtedly so.
It is a highly desired type by collectors today. The square stretcher in the table
Two-section Chippendale dining table
indicates its Southern origin, although many are found with the Southern pine drawer lining, and well turned stretchers. The smaller gate-legs, made for all purposes where a conveniently sized table that could be folded up when not in use was needed, are rare.
About 1720, the period of Queen Anne, the cabriole-leg table, with two drop-leaves and swinging legs, came into being. These had square, round, and oval tops with four and six legs. Three-section tables were first made in this period, and showed the square drop-leaf center, and the two half-moon ends with four legs, one leg on each end swinging to support a leaf. Due to the large size of the dining rooms in the Southern mansions, the majority of these three-section tables are found here, popular because the ends might serve as side tables when not in use, but when larger seating capacity was needed, could be put to immediate use.
The Chippendale style yields very few examples of the three-section type, and these show the square, thumb-print legs, rather than the claw-and-ball foot. An example of a Chippendale three-section with square legs is shown, when closed, having three legs at each end. The sketch of the two-section table having corner brackets, and of this period, and was found by the author in the Broad River district of South Carolina.
Many examples of the two- and three-section tables in the Hepplewhite style are found, some of them very elaborately inlaid. The specimens illustrated are unquestionably of Southern workmanship. The use of walnut having practically disappeared in the latter part of the Hepplewhite period, we find, with the Sheraton and Empire, many fine examples in mahogany. The early Empire produced the pedestal table of the tripod type in two- and three-
Sheraton two-section dining table with D-shape ends
