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jiggette7

Please Help Me Date A Table

6 years ago

Hi everyone! I just purchased this primitive pine table/console on FB marketplace for $$. The owner said she had been given it from a friend in the 90’s for $$$ and they were moving quickly so had to sell. Unfortunately, one of the knobs is missing but hopefully I can find something similar.


I was hoping to get some help dating it, and any other info. Linda, I know you’re out there ;-)


Thank you!











Comments (39)

  • 6 years ago

    Can you show the bottom of the drawers?

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    Yes, without interior drawer photos, its impossible to figure it out.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    It looks like a writing desk rather than a table. What are the dimensions of the top? How tall is it overall?

  • 6 years ago

    Here are pics of the drawers and inside. Yes, definitely more writing desk size. I said table because I’m using it as a console table, but writing desk is probably more appropriate. The top is 40”x18” and it’s 29.5” tall.





  • 6 years ago




  • 6 years ago



  • 6 years ago

    I find it interesting that wood of different ages were apparently used to make it.

  • 6 years ago

    It's pretty nearly impossible to tell the age. It's hand made for sure....not the product of a factory. Looks like pine to me and probably used some used wood and perhaps poplar for the legs...I think I am seeing worm holes...or powder post beetles.
    Hand done dovetails and it looks like some hand planed pieces. I would guess somewhere between 1860 and 1880....but it could be newer and made by "some old guy in a wood shop". The style of the legs in 1860-70 ish...but not to say that style couldn't have been used later. I'll bet the diameter of the legs is different too. I have a similar walnut table that has legs that are obviously hand turned on a lathe. Do the knobs screw into the drawer front?

    Not sure I would call it a desk, but more of a server or a side table. I think it it were a desk there would be some evidence of writing on the top or ink stains.
    I love it!! By the way!!
    And check for powdery dust on the floor around it....if so you need to tent it and kill the beetles!

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    Good photos, but need some of the dovetails or side shots of the drawers. Linda is right, you have bugs in that furniture or it did at one time. Don't bring it in your home until you are sure there are no beetles in it, they will get in everything in your home if they are still active.


    It appears to have been chemically stripped at some point, but hard to tell for sure.

  • 6 years ago

    Non pro here but I agree with Lindac and Keeping Room

  • 6 years ago

    Hi all, thank you for all your input!


    Here are some more pics of the sides of the drawer and inside. The knobs do appear to be screwed in but have wood caps on the interior. I’m searching for a replacement knob for the missing one, but a near perfect match is proving hard to come by.


    The previous owner had it in their home for years so I believe the worm holes and trails are old. No fresh dust but I’ll keep an eye on it.



  • 6 years ago

    Lovely!!! even the backs of the drawers are dovetailed.
    I am not at all convinced that powder post beetles will travel to other furniture, but they will turn what you have to dust!
    At one time I had a little wooden toy from South America. It sat on a wooden shelf and was always "dusty" around it. Eventually is pretty well fell apart into saw dust....but never got the beetles in anything else.
    The top appears to be one solid piece? Is that so? Or is it planked up? If it's one piece that also speaks to the age....or at least the age of the lumber!

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    Yes, those are hand-dovetailed, and looking at the board widths, probably mid-19th Century, probably around Civil War era. Those may not be the original knobs as they seem too large for the piece. If you just want a match to the three, a local woodworker can easily turn that for you if you let him have an existing one as a pattern.

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    I think mailfluer pointed it out... it kind of feels disjointed to me. Different woods or maybe drawers from one thing, the frame another? And distressed/stripped feel of the whole thing.

    For sure the top of that thing hasn't been loved with it's lines of water rings on it. Nice that there are still good knob stoppers on the back of those pulls.

    Maybe an older piece that got refurbished and fixed with some new wood, stripped and sold in the 90's? I remember "farmhouse fresh" stuff back then that was like this. Stripped, fixed, and resold to folks junk/barn/antique shopping that wanted the look/feel.... but cleaned up.

  • 6 years ago

    I also wondered if it could be a reproduction made of old wood

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    I have no information on dating it, but I love that table! I'm very fond of old pine.

    jiggette7 thanked Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
  • 6 years ago

    @JudyG Designs Thank you for your input! I had no idea that stripped pine was such a trend in the 80’s! After seeing your post, I googled it and found this article from the NYTimes (linked below). Apparently, stripped pine furniture from Europe was coming over by the container loads, but was mostly Victorian era from 1790-1890. My inclination is that maybe this console was part of that? The handmade dovetails and similarity to other Victorian pine consoles I’ve found online make me think it is 19th century, brought over from Europe and stripped. But like @maifleur03 brought up, it looks like different age woods. In the NYTimes article, it says many times these items were repaired before being sold so maybe that could explain it?


    https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/14/garden/stripped-pine-country-furniture-when-bare-becomes-beautiful.html


    Here are some other Victorian pine consoles, and a table, I found online that look very similar (pics below). In the detail pictures of the listings, the dovetails are very similar, as are the knobs and the turned legs.


    @lindac92, yes the top is one solid piece. Good to hear about the beetles! Though I really, really hope this piece is safe. I love it!


    @The KEEPING ROOM Thanks for the suggestion about the knob! I would never have thought of that!






  • 6 years ago

    JudyGdesings is not correct on the age...it's lots older than 1970 no matter how popular box lots of imported English furniture were in that era.
    The size of the tree that top board came from and the type on knob and the dovetailed drawers plainly put it as 19th century or earlier......and it COULD be American...but not likely. Perhaps repaired with reclaimed wood but the design is classic,,,,nothing disjointed about it.

  • 6 years ago

    If you look closely at the top you will see some darker lines going all the way across. These lines although faint are probably indications that the top was pieced. The OP can look from the underside of the table to verify or not.

  • 6 years ago

    I saw that too....but the OP said it was not planked up, but one solid piece. A better view would be good.

  • 6 years ago

    Things that I noticed was the interior where the side of the table is shown. There is a very old semi-rotten piece but the the rest of the framing is more recent. What appears to be old nail/screw marks on the right front of the facing board. They may be knots but they are in a straight line. Some of the wood based on how straight the grain is old. The wood for those sides on one of the drawers based on the growth pattern is from some type of fast growing tree. The woodworkers on here should be able to state what type of wood. Normally it would be the same type of wood as the back and other side of the drawer. Fast growing trees normally form softer wood which is why those two sides may be repairs.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    From what I can tell, the top is one solid piece. Here are some better pics. The top has a lot of patina, so it’s not completely clear. As @maifleur03 suggested, I took a pic underneath. The wood grain is continuous throughout so looks like one piece right? And I just noticed that one of the drawers still has the metal lock! Not sure how I missed that, but was pleasantly surprised just now :)





    These pics below are taken from underneath the slab, with the drawer removed.





  • 6 years ago

    Metal lock!



  • 6 years ago

    Yep...one solid piece of wood....split due to shrinkage, as so often happens with a solid but slab of wood. And the wood on the sides of the drawers and the sides appears to be pine. pine is a fast growing soft wood.
    If you can remove the lock without damaging it, for a closer look that may help to further date it. Is the lock steel or brass? A magnet will tell you.

  • 6 years ago

    I would think the case the actual lock is in would be steel and the actual lock may be brass. Think soft outer case of steel that can bend with a harder brass mechanism so test both the case and the latch.

  • 6 years ago

    How do you ladies know so much?! I love it! I did the magnet test and the exterior of the lock does not attract the magnet, but the inner latch and directly in the middle of the lock case (where the actual lock is inside) does. So does that mean the locking mechanism itself is steel and the case is brass?


    Unfortunately, some of the screws are fragile so I can’t remove them easily. One stripped when I tried to remove it. It is pretty rusted. I might try and get a smaller flathead and try again. If I can get it out, what should I be looking for?

  • 6 years ago

    Interesting thread! :)

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Put a little WD40 on the screw edges and allow to set 24-48 hours before trying to unscrew. You may have to repeat if the screw does not give immediately.

    There might be numbers on the back of the lock. However it is unlikely that there will be a name on it. Right now you might want to research companies that do lock casing like that. Linda will disagree with me but I still think it is a put together or very reworked piece which was reworked within the last twenty years by the coloration of some of the boards.

    Jiggette it is called observation for me along with knowing someone who sold reproduction fakes. Spending part of a summer separating grains of sand trains the eyes to see small differences.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Don't remove the screw....just take a head on picture of the screw and the slot......and if you can back it out at all, take a picture side on...of the profile of the slot in the screw.
    Lots of hints in this video.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAIQooVQR9g

  • 6 years ago

    Wow @lindac92, perfect video to share! So informative, thank you!


    I haven’t tried to remove the screws yet, but I was able to get some better pics. There are two different size screws used on the lock. I can get a profile shot on one of the smaller ones. The slot is definitely off center, and the bottom of the slot isn’t square.


    The lock looks very similar to the one in the video, and he said his friend had a similar one made of brass. Based on the magnet test, I think the case is brass. Anyway, here are some better pics!






  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Jumping in late to the party! Yes, this is a later 19th century piece, yes it's stripped pine, NO IT'S NOT FROM THE 1970s, smh. It's nice! Just needs a bit of the wood equivalent of moisturizer, pretty much. It may be Canadian, hence the British joinery, but it's probably Scottish; a friend who worked for Sotheby's in the 1980s shipped simple rusticated pine like that to North America by the sea-can load, as it became less popular in the UK and more popular here. What you might call an honest piece, possibly semi custom made by a local joiner for a specific spot in a scullery, for example.


  • 6 years ago

    Welcome to the thread @bubblyjock! Thank you for your input! I’ll definitely get some wood moisturizer or wax for it. What is “British joinery”? I like thinking it sat in a scullery somewhere years ago as a utilitarian piece, but whatever its history, I love it :)

  • PRO
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    smh? What does that mean?

    The possibility of your piece being constructed in the 70’s is more than likely. The wood itself is antique pine, stripped of its former finishes. Recycled by woodworkers to resemble furniture of old, it was once, at least here in New England, a popular decorating trend. I do not see it anymore, nor are the stores which sold it still in business. Once in awhile I see something in a consignment store, but it has past its glory, at least for now.

    You have one:

    of a collection of farmhouse tables, the designs based on old world styles but individually made. Tables are crafted to order from wood reclaimed from the roof joist or flooring of old buildings in any size or shape required. Farmhouse tables with leg, trestle and pedestal designs which are reflections on European country furniture styles.

    By acquiring a piece of reclaimed furniture, you have eliminated the need to cut a new tree.

    Old pine tables are rough hewn distressed. Those finished with wax will have an uniquely rich, soft, low-luster finish.

    I know your table. I had it, and so much more if it, 20 years ago. Walk into a store and there were many variations of your table. Hundreds and hundreds of different pieces were available…headboards, end tables, dining tables, cupboards, shelving, on and on. And that was just locally.

    Vintage, if the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s fall into that category, is your piece. Wood is antique.

    I am not putting your table down. It is a valuable as the person who wants it. However, it is not a fine antique.

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    Fun vignette I just found:



    Breakfast Point Apartment · More Info


  • 6 years ago

    That table is very obviously new, made to imitate old pine. Not even in the same ballpark as jiggette's table. In fact I don't see anything in your vignette that is antique at all.

  • 6 years ago

    I think many of the details discussed may be due to the fact that a piece like this may have been considered a low end copy of the more hardwood and ornate pieces that were popular at the time ...therefore ...as time passed ...it regressed to the “old table” in the garage for work table use ...the different materials used were common as the functional aspects did not need to match......we have had this table for 30 years...the top was finished for interior dining for years and has since been in our outdoor living space...still my favorite...

  • 6 years ago

    Breadboard ends! lovely!

  • 6 years ago

    Dating a table during this pandemic is probably a safe strategy for current relationships....My coffee table and I have grown stronger together! OK, I’ll see myself out...😂