18th Century French Elm Refectory Table

• Refectory Table - A long, substantial, solid-topped table, without leaves or extensions, used as a dining table. They were originally used in the refectories, or dining halls of monasteries, and are found in such places as boarding schools and university halls of residence. The tables usually have heavy turned legs, sometimes connected by stretchers close to the floor, and often have additional supporting legs along the railed frame. The term is also sometimes applied to a much shorter solid-topped table with a somewhat Jacobean flavour of the early 20th century.
• Octagonal Leg - Octagonal leg, also known as a faceted leg, is usually found on chairs and table pedestals made during the first thirty or forty years of the 19th century, though the design appears in some pattern books dating from the late 18th century. They are not uncommon on Australian colonial furniture of the period. The leg is turned, with the main body of the leg planed into a slightly tapering octagon between the upper and lower turnings. The leg was sometimes fluted or carved with foliage, although in colonial furniture it was more often plain. Octagonal legs are often found on elbow or carver chairs of the period, with scrolled arms sometimes known as Trafalgar chairs.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• tables, large dining - dining, fixed tops, French 216