Southern Antiques/Chapter 10
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GATE-LEGGED AND DINING TABLES
SINCE the days of King Arthur, a table, and particularly a dining table, has been synonymous with royalty. Often to dine with a man is to make him your friend. The table, perhaps, more than any piece of furniture, serves to bring people into a closer relation and better understanding of each other, and of affairs as well. The interests of the American colonists were few, and they depended, to a great extent, on what they received in the way of pleasure, in their homes and from each other. It was around some of the tables that this pleasure found its best expression.
Washington's dinners, while he was President, were stately affairs, from which the ladies retired after the cloth had been removed, to await the gentlemen in the drawing-room above. Heavy dinners were the rule, with fish and fowl, pies, puddings, fruit and jellies a part of the general scheme. Jefferson gave dinner parties every day at Washington when Congress was being held, where from fourteen to eighteen
Early dining table
sat down as soon as it ended its daily session. The dinner bell at Monticello rang at five o'clock. Tea was served in the evening.
The picture further back of the Southern pioneer, in his rudely constructed house in a cleared space in the forest, seated in his great wainscot chair at the head of his "dining bord" as it was called, with his family around him on benches and stools, is pleasing to us. The first table used in America, we are told, was the large rectangular table, the type used before 1675, in the South, of carved oak, and made with bulbous legs, six or four as the number may have been, showing turnings akin to those of the old cupboard of 1620, and relating itself to the old refectory or trestle tables in use in the English monasteries of former days.
Another table, however, was to assume the first place of importance before the end of the seventeenth century. This was the gate-leg table, showing a drop-leaf—sometimes called the flap-leaf—to be developed in many forms, and to take many forms of turnings in the days following, as dictated by the inward promptings of the craftsman at work.
The gate-leg table has a long history of beauty and usefulness. Originating in the spiral twist of English design in the middle of the seventeenth century, it has shown much variety in style and form. As popular and decorative as this table is today, it is hard to realize that it reaches back into 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
Sheraton two-section dining table with D-shape ends
PLATES
PLATE I. Sliding Gate-leg Table—Walnut. (Virginia—c. 1700). This type of the sliding gate-leg table of Southern origin is very rare, and one that has not been given the recognition due it. The turnings resemble many of the swinging gate-leg types found throughout the South. Two of them have been found in the same section. No others are known to exist. If this was imported into the South from elsewhere in the colonies, the imputation is that there should be others known. Although of more fragile construction than the swinging gate-leg, it has considerable merit of design. (Photograph, courtesy of Mrs. J. L. Brockwell).
PLATE II. Gate-leg Tables with a Variety of Turnings and Woods. (c. all about 1700). Large tables likely used as dining tables. Top—A fine, heavily turned gate-leg, one of the finest found in the South. Right—The table shows peculiar turnings of the bell-and-trumpet type, found on early highboys. Three of these tables with same turnings have found their way into the hands of one dealer. Left—The table shown here is with turnings of a design of which many are found. As shown, the feet are missing. Bottom—This table is very close in approach to the "Bobbin"-turned English table. Its construction is of native fruit wood.
PLATE III. Queen Anne Three-Section Table—Walnut. (North Carolina—c. 1710-1740). This, the first of the three-section type of table, is very rare, and its age speaks for itself. It is thought to have originated in central North Carolina. Three are definitely known to have been found in Mecklenburg County, and the type is rarely found anywhere else in the Southern states. The extreme rarity of the type may account for this. Parts of such types are often found, but one complete is rarely heard of.
PLATE IV. Chippendale Claw-and-Ball-Foot Table—Walnut. (North Carolina—c. 1760-1770). This table may have been part of a two- or three-section table, but as such tables are sometimes found with round leaves, it could well be a dining table complete in itself. Attention is called to the crosspiece that is shown underneath the table, exposed by the swinging leg. The wide grain of Southern pine is almost visible in this plate. Oak is sometimes used for such constructions, but the finding of Southern pine in the construction substantiates Southern origin. (Property of Mrs. Paul Chatham).
PLATE V. Chippendale Three-Section Dining Table—Mahogany. (South Carolina—c. 1780). Here is shown a late Chippendale dining table with square legs, not tapered, and a six-leg center. This type of table when closed, shows three legs on the ends of the center sections. The center leg is stationary, and two legs swing to support two leaves from each side. These tables are sometimes exceptionally wide, and some have been found measuring fifty-four inches across, although the general width throughout the various styles is around forty-eight inches. (Property of J. K. Beard).
PLATE VI. Hepplewhite Three-Section Table—Walnut. (South Carolina—c. 1790). This table shows a type of the three-section tables, many of which are found in the South, made from walnut and mahogany, with square, tapered legs. Those inlaid with the bellflower design are not common. More elaborately inlaid tables are found than the one illustrated, but this is a representative type. (Property of Mrs. M. A. Robbins).
PLATE VII. Early Empire Three-Section Dining Table—Mahogany. (Virginia—c. 1810-1820). Tables of this type, with the rope-twist legs, are often referred to by dealers as English tables, but very few are found in England. The rope-twist, spoken of as late Sheraton, was used in Sheraton's last book of designs. The brass cup and casters on the leg indicate the early Empire period. The style of leg shown is found on all types of furniture made at this time, and was evidently very popular.
PLATE I
PLATE II
PLATE III
PLATE IV
PLATE V
PLATE VI
PLATE VII