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REPLICA FURNITURE

JOINED OAK WITHDRAWING TABLE.   72” long (in closed position) x 34” wide.

Withdrawing tables were developed from the ever present need to make the best possible use of available space and they provided a more efficient solution than the trestle table which could be dismantled. The earliest known withdrawing table still in existence today is thought to date from between 1540-50, although that particular example has a deep   cupboard below the top, making it totally impractical for sitting under. Nevertheless, as it is a fully developed form, whereby two independent leaves extend from either end of the main  top, each on a pair of cantilevered beams, or lopers, it can be reasonably assumed that this ingenious system was invented and perfected some time before that date.

 Barring a few exceptions, all original period joined dining tables, whether fixed top or withdrawing, were built with four perimeter stretchers. Modern preferences for the ease of sliding chairs under the table, means replicas, such as the example illustrated here, can be built with the option of a central stretcher.

 This table has individually turned ‘rising baluster’ legs (1580-1800) joined by simple moulded rails and stretchers, although variations are possible in terms of turning and decoration. When in a closed position, the top is a full 3” thick.
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 Copyright © 2003 Nicholas Berry        Early Oak Specialists