Illustration [267] shows two work-tables of mahogany and bird’s-eye maple belonging to Francis H. Bigelow, Esq. Similar tables were common about 1810-1820.
Illustrations [268] and 269 show two work-tables owned by Dwight M. Prouty, Esq. The legs and frame of the upper table are of mahogany, the box being made of pine and covered with pleated silk. The lower table is more elegant in shape, with a slide, the front of which simulates a drawer, and to this is attached the work bag or box, in this table made of wood, silk-covered, but sometimes made of silk alone.
Illustration [270] shows a Hepplewhite dining table, the drop leaf serving to increase the length of the table, when raised and held up by the extra leg, which swings under it. Up to 1800 the dining-table had been made in various styles, in all of which the table legs were more or less in the way of those around the table. In the “hundred-legged” table there seemed to be a table leg for each person. Then came the cabriole leg, also in the way, and finally the Hepplewhite dining-table, which was made in sections, with rounded ends, and four legs on each end.
Illus. 270.—Hepplewhite Dining-table, 1790.
About 1800 the pillar-and-claw table was invented, which made it possible for several persons to sit around a dining-table without a part of the guests encircling the table legs with their own. These tables were made in pairs or in threes, one after another being added as more room was required.
Illus. 271.—Pillar-and-claw Dining-table, 1800.
Illustration [271] shows a pillar-and-claw extension dining-table, of mahogany, owned by L. J. Shapiro, Esq. of Norfolk, Virginia. The telescope extension (the same method in use at present) was invented by Richard Gillow, of London, about 1800. The end tables pull apart upon a slide, and extra leaves may be inserted between the ends, held in place by wooden pins.