What is a birdcage table?

A birdcage table is a small occasional stand featuring a specific wooden pivoting block beneath the top. This block allows the surface to rotate and tilt vertically. Cabinet makers produced these primarily in mahogany during the Georgian era. They served as wine tables and supper stands.

Why are chandeliers called birdcages?

Large nineteenth and twentieth-century chandeliers gained this descriptive name from their open metal frames. The curved brass or bronze skeleton mirrors the domed profile of an aviary. These lighting fixtures frequently incorporate rows of glass crystals suspended within the framework.

How do you date an old birdcage?

Dating relies on the materials, fastening methods, and overall style. Early pet enclosures utilise hand-drawn wire and native timbers, while twentieth-century examples show machine-made components. Table mechanisms use period-specific carpentry joints like hand-cut dovetails and turned wooden pillars that align with eighteenth and nineteenth-century construction.

Were these cages meant for live pets?

Many surviving brass and wooden structures were built specifically to house domestic birds like parrots and singing finches. Some featured removable trays for cleaning. Others functioned purely as decorative objects or architectural ornaments for grand interiors.

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Antique Birdcage

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When you look for an antique birdcage, you find domestic shelters for pets, clever furniture mechanisms, and crystal chandeliers that share the same distinctive skeletal outline.