Kingwood Bedside Table
A kingwood bedside table brings French revival elegance and rich cabinet work to a bedroom scheme.
What these tables are
A kingwood bedside table is typically encountered as a freestanding lamp table, nightstand cupboard, or marble-topped cabinet dating from the Victorian era into the early twentieth century. These pieces draw heavily on French design vocabulary, frequently adopting Louis XV Revival or Louis XVI style characteristics.
Most examples found on this page arrive as matched pairs rather than single items, reflecting the traditional arrangement of flanking a bed. The forms range from open bedside cabinets with marble surfaces to marquetry inlaid lamp tables equipped with cupboards.
Materials and construction
Makers built these pieces using timber frames finished with decorative kingwood veneer, frequently incorporating walnut, cherry, and intricate wood marquetry or parquetry patterns. Surfaces often feature distinctive inset marble tops, sometimes in varieties such as breche.
Casting and chasing ormolu mounts and brass details accent the corners, legs, and mounts, providing structural trim and decorative contrast to the polished timber ground.
Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical UK retail prices for kingwood bedside table, calculated from the Sellingantiques database of over a million retail prices indexed since 2003. This retail price guide relies exclusively on Sellingantiques data; no external sources or auction records are used, so the figures do not describe the wider market.
Listings feature pieces spanning the Victorian era through the 1920s and 1930s, constructed in kingwood, walnut, and cherry with marble tops.
Distinctions in quality
Quality rests in the precision of the timber matching and the delicacy of the marquetry or parquetry layouts across the curved surfaces. Superior examples demonstrate crisp casting in the ormolu mounts and well-fitted marble slabs that sit flush within the wooden frame.
Gillows
The Kingwood Bedside Table Glossary
- Kingwood
- A dense, richly figured exotic timber utilised extensively for decorative veneer in cabinet work. It displays striking dark grain patterns that contrast against lighter background tones.
- Ormolu
- Gilded bronze mounts applied to furniture edges and legs for ornamental effect. This technique was favoured in French revival cabinet making to highlight structural contours.
- Marquetry
- The art of applying small pieces of veneer to form decorative pictures or geometric patterns. Craftsmen arranged contrasting woods carefully across the top and sides of these cabinets.
- Parquetry
- A geometric mosaic of wood veneer arranged in repeating patterns such as cubes or chequers. This technique appears frequently on the panels of French bedside tables.
- Breche
- A type of quarried marble featuring a brecciated pattern of broken fragments cemented together. It provides a durable and decorative surface for bedside table tops.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these tables usually sold individually or in pairs?
The majority of these pieces appear as matched pairs intended to sit on either side of a bed. Single items do occur, particularly when configured as lamp tables or freestanding nightstand cupboards.
Buyers searching for symmetrical bedside arrangements will find that pairs predominate across both Victorian and early twentieth-century examples.
What French styles influence these bedside cabinets?
Design elements draw predominantly from Louis XV and Louis XVI traditions, translated through nineteenth-century revival periods. These influences manifest in serpentine shapes, cabriole legs, and restrained neoclassical mounts.
Cabinet makers in later decades continued to adapt these French forms, producing parquetry and marble-topped pieces with similar decorative accents.
How should a marble top be maintained?
Marble surfaces require gentle cleaning with a damp cloth and mild soap to preserve the polished finish. Avoid acidic substances that can etch the stone over time.
Using coasters beneath water glasses protects the natural material from staining while keeping the table in sound condition for daily use.
Can these cabinets function as lamp tables?
Their compact proportions make them suitable for use as lamp tables in living rooms as well as bedside storage. The inclusion of lower shelves or cupboards provides practical space for small items.
Freestanding designs finished on all sides allow them to sit away from walls beside a sofa or armchair.