Tables & Sideboards at Cupboards and Roses
The chair, the chest, and the table are generally thought to be the first pieces of true furniture. It is easy to imagine the “aha moment” when someone realized that a surface supported on legs would be easier to work at than a trunk!
In Northern Europe and Scandinavia, the early houses, certainly though the 1500s, had most “furniture” built in. Beds, benches, cupboards, even early clocks were attached to or recessed into the walls. A general purpose table, along with a single chair for the master of the house, were often the only true, i.e., moveable items of furniture. In the Scandinavian tradition, the Master’s Corner contained the father’s chair, positioned at the head of a long table around which the family gathered. Each person’s place at the table indicated his or her rank in the household.
By the 17th century, the fashion of separate rooms for separate purposes, filled with moveable pieces of furniture, was moving from the commercial centers such as Hamburg, Stockholm, and Copenhagen into the countryside. The sturdy, long multi-purpose table evolved into the dining table, and a variety of types of smaller tables appeared. The older interior style survived in the practice of positioning all the furniture along the walls, to be brought into position only when in use.
Early dining tables were the sort that we know as refectory tables, long and narrow, supported by a stretcher between two trestles. The 17th century gateleg table is a classic Swedish design, with a narrow center sections with long leaves which can be folded down or raised and supported with hinged “gates.” D-ended tables appeared in the 18th century and were composed of a simple rectangular center table with rounded, detachable tables at either end. These end pieces functioned as demilune (half-moon) side tables when not in use in the dining room.
One of the most interesting special-use tables is the tea table, a necessary adjunct to the new 18th century custom of taking tea. These tables came in all shapes and in several styles, but the type that we know today was round, oval, or square, seating about four, and with a top that tilted to allow the table to be stored against a wall. The top was hinged to a central column supported by three legs. Some of these tables also turned so that the hostess could pour and serve her guests by rotating the tabletop.
The sideboard or server was another 18th century innovation, evolving from the long, narrow serving or “slab” tables used to cut and serve food. These pieces retained the convenient serving height of the earlier tables, adding drawers and compartments for storing flatware and serving pieces.
At Cupboards & Roses Antiques, we always have a variety of Swedish dining tables in excellent original condition, as well as beautiful Spanish walnut refectory tables with wonderful patina. We also offer tea tables, pairs of demilune tables, and other small side tables from Sweden, Denmark, and Europe, as well as Gustavian sideboards and painted country servers.
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