Are silver tables actually made of silver?

Almost never. The great majority listed under this heading are wooden furniture, mahogany or walnut, named for the plate they were made to display rather than what they are made of. A minority are silvered or silver-gilt on the surface, over wood, gesso or metal. A small handful have silver wire or sheet inlaid into the wood.

What wood are they usually made from?

Mahogany is the defining timber, named in nearly half the titles across the archive. Walnut comes a distant second, including burr walnut, figured walnut and Irish red walnut. One oak example, William and Mary in style, sits well outside the usual run.

Why do so many listings say Georgian rather than a year?

Only 40 of 126 listings carry a clean year. The largest dating blocks are brackets: 18th Century, Georgian, 19th Century. Several titles sitting inside an 18th-century bucket openly say style, revival, manner or influenced. The form was copied from the later 19th century onwards, and both period pieces and copies share the heading.

What makes Irish examples stand out?

Irish attribution appears in one title in ten, and those listings cluster at the expensive end of the archive. The sampled Irish tables are George II and George III mahogany and red walnut, described with carved detail rather than plain surfaces.

Do silver tables come in pairs?

Pairs and matched pairs turn up half a dozen times across the samples, including Dutch burr walnut and mahogany fretted examples. They sit well above single tables of comparable description. A pair of walnut, silvered and yew wood serving tables stands at the top of the whole range.

Which listings only borrow the name?

A few use silver in another sense altogether: silver display and silver presentation tables, and a butler's silver valet stand. One entry is not furniture at all, a small solid silver bon bon dish, and it sits at the very bottom of the range.