18th Century European Oak Stretcher Table
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- Stretcher - A horizontal rail which connects the legs of stools, chairs, tables and stands, to provide stabilisation of the legs. A stretcher table is any table with a stretcher base. The term is usually applied to substantial farmhouse tables, although many cabinetmaker's pieces, such as sofa tables, also have turned stretchers.
- Oak - Native to Europe and England, oak has been used for joinery, furniture and building since the beginning of the medieval civilisation. It is a pale yellow in colour when freshly cut and darkens with age to a mid brown colour.
Oak as a furniture timber was superceded by walnut in the 17th century, and in the 18th century by mahogany,
Semi-fossilised bog oak is black in colour, and is found in peat bogs where the trees have fallen and been preserved from decay by the bog. It is used for jewellery and small carved trinkets.
Pollard oak is taken from an oak that has been regularly pollarded, that is the upper branches have been removed at the top of the trunk, result that new branches would appear, and over time the top would become ball-like. . When harvested and sawn, the timber displays a continuous surface of knotty circles. The timber was scarce and expensive and was used in more expensive pieces of furniture in the Regency and Victorian periods.
Visually similar items
Oak refectory table, French, rectangular plank top, turned legs, stretcher base. Height 74 cm. Width 150 cm. Depth 65 cm. Provenance: de Fiori. The Estate of a Lady, NSW
A George III mahogany side table, of rectangular form below a frieze drawer on square tapering legs with stretcher. 70 cm high, 55 cm wide, 38 cm deep
A 19th century English oak single drawer hall table with faceted legs 101 cm x 51 cm x 75 cm
A George III mahogany occasional table, circa1790, of pleasing plain form with a fine patina, having a plain top with rounded corners above a single full width drawer, with slender square legs united by an 'H' form stretcher. Provenance: Creswick Antiques