Sheraton Style Card Table
A sheraton style card table brings linear elegance and clever folding tops to a room, offering both a functional surface and a refined antique focal point.
Sheraton Style Card Table
The versions most commonly met on this page span the late eighteenth century through to the early twentieth century, incorporating George III originals alongside Edwardian and Victorian revivals. They function primarily as card tables, games tables, and tea tables, shifting easily from a compact console against a wall to a fully revealed playing surface.
How they were made
Cabinet makers built these tables using solid foundational timbers such as mahogany and rosewood, often applying veneers of satinwood and amboyna to the primary surfaces. Finer examples integrate contrasting timber stringing and delicate inlay using boxwood and ebony.
Decoration relied heavily on marquetry panels and hand-painted motifs executed directly onto the wood, sometimes paired with subtle brass hardware. The fold-over mechanisms required precise joinery to ensure the upper leaf aligned evenly with the lower frame when opened.
Sheraton Style Card Table Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical asking prices for sheraton style card table among the pieces listed under this phrase on Sellingantiques today, from the lower quarter to the upper quarter. They describe what is for sale here now, not the wider market.
Listings feature mahogany, satinwood, and rosewood alongside painted and marquetry finishes spanning the eighteenth, nineteenth, and Edwardian eras.
What varies in quality
The distinction between tiers of quality rests in the crispness of the inlay and the depth of the timber figuring, where select satinwood and mahogany display rich natural grain rather than flat coloration. Painted decoration shows its merit in the sureness of the brushwork and the preservation of the original pigment.
Structural integrity during the action of turning and folding the top leaf marks superior construction, keeping the hinged leaves level without wobble. The subtlety of tapered leg profiles and the restraint in stringing separate finely proportioned pieces from heavier, less balanced interpretations.
Howard & Son's
The Sheraton Style Card Table Glossary
- Demi-lune
- Having a half-moon shape with a straight back edge for placing against a wall. This profile defines many of the surviving card and tea tables.
- Foldover top
- A hinged table surface that opens to double its enclosed footprint for playing games or serving tea. The folding leaf rests on swing legs or a pivoting frame.
- Satinwood
- A light, lustrous timber native to the tropics, frequently used for veneering and inlay work in neoclassical furniture. It provides a golden contrast to darker woods like mahogany.
- Marquetry
- The art of forming decorative patterns by fitting together small pieces of wood veneer of various colours and grains. It adorns the top surfaces of higher-grade tables.
- Stringing
- Thin strips of contrasting wood inlaid into channels on table edges and legs to create linear borders. This technique highlights the geometry of the piece.
Sheraton Style Card Table: Frequently Asked Questions
What is a sheraton style card table?
A sheraton style card table is a light, neoclassical furniture form featuring straight tapering legs, geometric inlays, and a hinged top that opens for card playing or tea.
Originating in the late eighteenth century and revived through the Edwardian period, these tables prioritise elegance and adaptability over heavy mass.
How were card tables used originally?
In period homes, these tables stood closed against the drawing-room wall holding decorative items or candles until guests gathered for evening games.
When needed, the hinged top unfolded to reveal a baize-lined playing surface for cards, and folded shut again once the entertainment ended.
How do I tell an original from a revival?
Eighteenth-century pieces display the tool marks, timber shrinkage, and hand-cut joinery consistent with the Georgian period, along with patination built over generations of use.
Revival pieces from the Victorian and Edwardian eras often show machine precision in their veneers and cleaner, more uniform finishes while still following the classic Sheraton vocabulary.
How do I live with one daily?
These tables fit easily into narrow hallways or living rooms as console surfaces, requiring minimal floor space when kept in their closed position.
Care involves keeping them away from direct heat sources to protect the delicate satinwood veneers and using proper coasters on the polish.