Antique Bistro Tables
A small round café table on an iron pedestal or tripod, carrying a marble, timber or stone top, made to seat two in a bar, on a terrace or in a garden.
Antique Bistro Tables
A cast- or wrought-iron base under a round or D-end top, at drinks or dining height. French examples dominate: over half the titles on Sellingantiques say "french", nearly half say "iron", and marble is named in around a quarter. The French cast-iron table with a marble top is the version you'll meet most often.
Tables like these were made in quantity from the middle of the nineteenth century to furnish bars, cafés and terraces. A heavy base with a narrow foot stood firm in a tight space, and a stone top took spills and weather. The same castings served conservatories and gardens, so the form turns up indoors and out.
Behind the French group sit English Victorian cast-iron pub and garden tables, a body of about a sixth of the listings and growing in current stock; the "Britannia" pub base recurs among them. Smaller branches follow: timber-topped bistro tables in oak, cherry, elm, mahogany and cedar, and folding vineyard and vendange tables from the French wine trade. Roughly one listing in twelve is a pair or a set rather than a single table.
Dating is loose. The span runs 1850 to 1930, but "19th Century" is the single commonest entry, with "Victorian" behind it, so more than a third of the dating is a span rather than a year. Where a decade is given, the weight sits either side of 1900.
Where Value Sits
Top material does most of the work. Marble sits high, and specimen marble, polished granite and stone higher still. A painted metal tripod or a pierced iron top sits at the other end. The Swedish stone-and-iron garden table stands alone at the top of the range, which says something about how far a stone top can carry a plain base.
Size pulls the same way. The measurements quoted in titles are small, around 55 to 70cm, and tables described as long, larger or very large sit well above them. Multiples do the same job: paired cast-iron and marble tables have reached roughly twice the single-table level, and sets run up to seven hardwood bar tables.
After that it's what else the piece carries. Brass, copper and gilt mixed with the iron cluster in the upper half. So does a named pattern, whether the English "Britannia" pub base or the French "Arras" bistro form, which sit above their plain equivalents. Origins outside France and England are unusual, and the few that appear have done well.
Antique Bistro Tables Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical UK retail prices for bistro tables, calculated from the Sellingantiques database of over a million retail prices indexed since 2003. This retail price guide relies exclusively on Sellingantiques data; no external sources or auction records are used, so the figures do not describe the wider market.
Roughly one listing in twelve on Sellingantiques is a pair or a set rather than a single table, up to a set of seven bar tables.
The Antique Bistro Tables Glossary
- Bistro table
- A small café table, usually a single iron pedestal or tripod carrying a round top, at drinks or dining height.
- Cast iron
- Poured into a mould, which is what gives the scrolled and pierced bases their pattern. Named in a third of titles.
- Wrought iron
- Worked hot at the forge rather than moulded. The alternative base construction, and titles distinguish the two.
- D-end
- A top with one or both ends squared off so the table sits flat against a wall.
- Vendange or vigneron table
- A French folding harvest or winemaker's table with a timber top, a small recurring group.
- Bread slide
- A pull-out board fitted under a timber top, noted on a cherry bistro table.
Antique Bistro Tables: Frequently Asked Questions
Are bistro tables French or English?
Both, with France well ahead. Over half the titles say "french", and the French cast-iron table with a marble top is the form that dominates the category.
The English side is a body of Victorian cast-iron pub and garden tables, about a sixth of the listings and a rising share of what's currently for sale. Anything from outside those two countries is unusual: a Spanish mosaic café table, and two Swedish pieces.
What tops do they come with?
Marble leads. It's named in around a quarter of the titles, and "marble top" appears as a phrase in a good many of those.
Timber tops follow, in oak, cherry, elm, mahogany, chestnut, fruitwood and cedar. Beyond that there are stone and polished granite tops, a zinc top, a mosaic top and pierced iron tops cast as part of the table.
How old is a Victorian bistro table likely to be?
The dated listings run from 1850 to 1930, and just under half carry a clean year rather than a span.
"19th Century" is the commonest dating entry by a distance, with "Victorian" next. Where a decade is given, the 1900s and 1920s outnumber the 1850s, 1870s and 1890s several times over. Treat a broad label as an estimate.
What is a vendange table?
A French folding table from the wine trade, used at harvest, with a timber top and a frame that folds flat. Listings also call them vineyard or vigneron tables.
They're a small but distinct group, under a tenth of what comes through, and they sit alongside the iron-based tables rather than looking anything like them.
Do they turn up as pairs?
Roughly one listing in twelve is a pair or a set. Paired cast-iron and marble tables have sold at around twice the level of a single.
Sets go further than two. A run of seven hardwood bar tables has appeared, along with a zinc-topped table offered with six folding chairs.
Are any makers named on these tables?
No. Nothing in this category carries a maker's name, and the descriptions don't attribute them either.
What does recur is a pattern name. "Britannia" attaches to English cast-iron pub table bases, and "Arras" to a French bistro form. Both sit above their unnamed equivalents.