What wood are work tables usually made from?

Mahogany, walnut and rosewood account for the bulk of the titles, with burr walnut the most frequent of the walnut descriptions. Past that the timbers run wide. Satinwood turns up often, and pollard and burr oak, birds-eye maple, Karelian and burr birch, amboyna, kingwood, harewood, macassar ebony, burr yew, ash and elm all appear.

How old is an antique work table likely to be?

The dated field stretches from 1750 to 1950, but the weight sits in the 19th century. '19th Century' is the largest single label, then Regency, then Victorian. Where decades are given they gather mid-century, in the 1850s, 1860s, 1870s and 1880s, with a small 1920s tail. Eighteenth-century and 20th-century pieces both appear, but thinly.

Why do listings give a table several different uses?

Because the form absorbed jobs as it went. A table made for needlework also served as a lamp stand, a side table or a games table, and dealers title it accordingly. A good number of listings call the piece a side table as well, and others stack work, sewing, lamp and hall into one title.

Are pine kitchen and drapers' tables the same thing?

No. They share the heading but not the purpose. Pine kitchen tables, drapers', trestle and industrial benches, foundry and mill tables are practical furniture filed under the same words. They're about one in ten of what's listed, and fewer in live stock than in the archive.

What does a Pembroke work table look like?

Two hinged drop leaves on a central body, so the top can be opened out or dropped down against the frame. Mahogany is the usual timber for them. They're a smaller branch of the category, sitting alongside plain drop-flap examples.

How often do work tables come up on Sellingantiques?

Around 127 a year, and 244 different dealers have handled one. It's a form almost every general furniture dealer touches at some point. That spread is part of why the heading is so broad: the same two words cover a burr walnut sewing table and a French wrought-iron console.