A large oval or circular Victorian tilt-top table, named after the card game loo. On Sellingantiques the term is used interchangeably with centre table, and the same piece often carries both names in one title. They are commonly walnut or burr walnut on a carved pedestal, with the top hinged so it can be swung upright.

Which woods are most common?

Walnut leads at 636 titles, then mahogany at 549 and rosewood at 452, with oak behind them at 217. The rarer timbers appear only in ones and twos: amboyna, kingwood, satinwood, pollard and burr oak, yew, lacewood and birds-eye maple among them. Those are the ones that climb the range.

How old are most of these tables?

The dated field runs from 1660 to 1960, but the bulk sits in the nineteenth century. "19th Century" alone accounts for 820 listings and "Victorian" another 302, so a large part of the archive gives a century or a reign rather than a year. Where decades are stated, the 1860s dominates at 286 listings, roughly three times the 1870s. The twentieth century is thin, and pre-1750 pieces appear only as occasional oak, walnut and fruitwood examples.

Why do listings give two names for one table?

Because the form does more than one job. Titles pair "centre/dining", "centre/lamp", "centre or breakfast" and "library/centre", and drum, rent and writing tables all get filed here too. A table finished on all sides can sit in the middle of a drawing room, a library or a hall, and dealers title it for whichever use suits.

What does gueridon mean?

It's the French name for a small round table on a central column or tripod. It appears in 181 titles and is the one foreign word the category has fully taken in. Many carry marble tops, and the French group takes in Empire, Charles X, Louis Philippe and Napoleon III pieces, some with gilt-bronze mounts.

Are marble tops common on these tables?

Marble is named in 219 titles, with 149 saying marble top, so it turns up throughout, mostly on the French and French-taste tables. The unusual tops are the hardstone and specimen ones: Derbyshire fossil marble, majolica, porphyry and onyx, along with a top made from sample timbers. Those sit near the top of the range.

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Antique Centre Tables

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A centre table is finished on all sides and made to stand in the middle of a room, carrying a lamp, books or breakfast rather than sitting against a wall.