How many tables are in a nest?

Three or four covers the great bulk of what's on Sellingantiques, with three slightly ahead of four in the titles. Sets of five turn up around two dozen times across the archive, mostly Art Deco walnut. A nest of only two appears two or three times in the whole run.

What does quartetto mean in a listing?

It means a nest of four, and dealers use it interchangeably with the number. The spelling wanders. Quartetto, quarteto, quartteto, quartette and quartet all appear, and all mean the same set.

Which woods turn up most?

Mahogany leads the category, with walnut behind it, and burr walnut makes up a large share of the walnut. Oak sets appear regularly at the plainer end. Beyond those, satinwood, rosewood, yew, amboyna, kingwood, maple, teak, padouk and birds-eye maple each show up in a handful of titles.

Are Georgian or Regency nests common?

No. Regency titles number in the dozens and 19th-century labels are thinner still, against a category concentrated in the 1900s to 1930s. The earliest piece in the archive is an 18th-century Sheraton-period amboyna set, one of only a few pre-1800 attributions, and it sits near the top of the range.

Do Chinese and Japanese nests appear?

They do, as a steady minority. Chinese sets run to more than seventy titles, with Qing Dynasty carved hardwood, padouk, huanghuali and hongmu all named. Japanese red lacquer sets and Anglo-Indian Kashmir sets appear alongside them. Chinoiserie is separate again: European decoration in the Chinese taste.

What unusual nests have come up?

Occasionally something appears with no companion in the archive. A nest with an integrated chess board, tops printed with maps, papier mâché side tables, bentwood, onyx, marble and gilt metal have all been listed. One Irish Killarney ware marquetry set sits at the very top of the range.

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Antique Nest of Tables

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A nest of tables is a graduated set of small side tables, each sliding under the next, made so one piece could serve several people for tea, work or cards and then be pushed back together.