What wood are reading tables usually made from?

Mahogany, on the evidence of the titles. It's named in 87 of 177, roughly half, and no other timber comes close. Oak, walnut and rosewood follow at some distance. Kingwood, satinwood, ebony, burr elm, cedar, fruitwood, yew and pine each surface only once or twice across the whole sample.

How old are most antique reading tables?

The dealers' own dating runs from 1800 to 1930. Only 53 of the 177 listings carry a clean year, so for the rest the period is a style attribution rather than a date. "19th Century" is the label used most, ahead of Victorian, Regency and Georgian. Decade labels are thin and scattered across the 1850s through the 1910s. A handful of samples carry an 18th Century label, and a few reach into the 1920s.

Are over-bed and invalid tables part of this category?

Yes, and they form a small but steady seam. Titles include over-chair rise-and-fall tables, adjustable invalid tables, bed and chair tables, and a cast-iron adjustable bed table described as a mobility aid. They work on the cantilever principle: an offset or weighted base carrying a top that swings across the sitter. The plainer late examples sit at the lower end of the range.

What does a duet stand mean in these listings?

A double-sided top, so two readers or players face each other across it. The arrangement accounts for roughly one title in twelve, appearing as duet music stands, rise-and-fall duet music tables and recital stands.

Do reading tables carry maker's names?

Rarely in the titles. Two sample titles mention a maker's label or a patent, and one Lancaster workshop appears in eight, sometimes stated and sometimes only as an attribution or as being in that manner. Patent and trade-named stands are a small recurring seam, including several titled as patent adjustable reading tables.

Which forms are the most unusual?

The odd ones come up as one-offs rather than types. A papier mache and lacquer reading stand, a four-tier whatnot with an adjustable reading slope, and a Sutherland reading table have all appeared. So has an Art Deco chrome and walnut over-bed stand, at the later end of the dating. Metamorphic pieces are a scattered minority: side table into lectern, wine table with a reading stand, hall table that becomes a reading slope.