Are demilune tables stable?

They're usually stable. The three or four leg stance is inherently solid against a wall. Floorboards cause more rocking than the frame itself. Older joints can loosen over time. If the glue fails at the top of the legs, the whole carcase starts to sway sideways.

I have a narrow hallway with a radiator and I am wondering if putting an old wooden table right above it is going to ruin the wood?

Heat damages antique furniture. Radiators dry out the air, which shrinks the timber carcase and cracks the surface veneers. The hide glue holding the crossbanding will eventually crystallise and fail. Solid wood frames fare slightly better than veneered ones. But any antique demilune table placed directly over a working radiator will warp or split. Keep them on a wall away from direct heat.

It's a hinged rear leg. You'll pull it out to support the folding top on a card table. When closed, the leg sits flush with the back frame.

The baize lining inside the folding top of the table has got some moth holes and stains on it so can that be changed without damaging the wood?

Replacing the baize is standard maintenance. Upholsterers strip the old fabric and scrape away the residual glue without harming the mahogany border. New wool baize is then glued flat to the recess. The process restores the playing surface to how it looked when the table was first made.

Home > Tables > Demilune Tables > Page 9

Antique Demilune Tables

← Page 9 of 14 →

Antique demilune tables are half-moon shaped console or side tables designed to sit flush against a wall, originally used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to dress hallways or dining rooms without obstructing the flow of traffic.