OOh..nice! Let's see the inside of the drawer....is there dovetailing? can we see?

it's a gateleg table....a style popular for many years. Can't tell what kind of wood it is or even if it's solid....but I suspect it is.

The sharp turnings on the legs speak to a quality piece.

Wipe it down with mineral spirits.....and then post another picture. For sure don't paint it!!!

I grew up with that table and it still lives on in my friends' garage as a convenient flat surface when needed :-)

Based on the actual style of the table I suspect it is from the 1920's - my mother bought a lot of "used" furniture in the 1950's - not antiques but used. :-). It doesn't look Victorian like some of the other used pieces she bought

The "actual style" of the table was popular for about 400 years. The age and value will depend on what the construction details show and what wood it is made from.

I suspect your mother's "Used furniture" was a lot nicer than you think.

lindac92 - I wasn't shading my mother's choices at all. Some of the stuff I am still using. I have a fabulous Neo Gothic chandelier that she had rewired from its original gas as well as a Art Deco Chinese chest. Some of the other pieces were lovely as well but I just didn't have the room for everything and a large Victorian china cabinet (for example) wouldn't work in my space without overpowering everything.

I put "used" in quotes deliberately because my mother would get very sad when her used furniture stores would start saying they were selling antiques because she knew that meant they would be charging higher prices.

I am still using the Waterfall bedroom suite I bought years ago in a "used" furniture store. When I remodeled I had it professionally refinished and the vanity repurposed into two night tables.

I think gateleg tables are great - so functional. We used that table as our dining room table because my childhood home was a relatively small apartment and there was no reason to have the dining room actually be used as a dining room all the time when we generally ate in the kitchen.

Just for clarification, the piece pictured came to me (original poster) via a home purchased, not my mother. :) I'm adding pictures of the drawer--it is dovetailed! What does that mean--better quality? I'm such a novice here. I plan to clean up the piece and post another picture. Would love to know the type of wood as well.

A dove tailed drawer is better quality construction than a stapled drawer but it really doesn't have much to do with age. My experience is that most "vintage" furniture - ie. manufactured before the era of IKEA toss it away was made with dove tail drawers. My old (circa 1965) kitchen cupboards had dove tailed drawers as do the drawers on my Waterfall bedroom suite. At that time the Waterfall furniture was sold it was relatively inexpensive furniture for the "masses".

It's an extremely functional piece of furniture and even if you don't refinish it, you can use it easily as a spare table and just have tablecloths.

The drawer (especially the inside bottom) looks somewhat mahogany-ish. The other parts have too much white stuff to tell from the photos.

Try wiping it down with denatured alcohol and see if the grain shows better...or if the old finish comes off.

I think it's worth refinishing. It'll be nice!

I think the top and legs are walnut. Really nice piece. It doesn't look like it has it's original finish, which would be shellac. Maybe someone tried to strip it to refinish at one time. If there is any original shellac finish it will kind of dissolve when using denatured alcohol then "re-harden" ( I know that's not the correct term) Use a really light touch and gently wipe on the denatured alcohol on a small area with a piece of a white cotton t-shirt to test it out first.

Google the term (and look on YouTube) for reamalgation or reamalgamate shellac finish. You can find how to videos on the process on YouTube, it's really easier than it sounds to do. French polish is another name. You can buy shellac rather than a oil or acrylic (water based) polyurethane for a finish. The shellac finish would look good on that, you don't need to stain it before you put on a finish, whether shellac or poly. I've used oil based polyurethane don't use it, it's awful stuff and yellows really bad.

Agreew ith Izzy man....walnut, the drawer definitly looks like walnut. And a light touch with denatured alcohol will do wonders for an old shellac finish.....a VERY light touch, unless you want to remove all he finish.

I believe the dove tails in the drawer are hand done...putting the date of the table about 1880...or before. Looks like the drawer sides are poplar.

I was afraid to use denatured alcohol, so used mineral oil to clean and then an Old English dark wood cleaner/scratch remover. I’m sure I didn’t do the right thing (feel free to let me know!), but I’m pleased with the results so far. Still needs some additional work on legs & a finish.

Wow, I didn’t even recognize it. nice job!

You even have the perfect spot for it. It looks better than it would if it were perfect!

What ever you did it looks terrific. I would leave it as is, wouldn't change a thing.

Hello,

It is a gateleg dropleaf table - Early American Farmhouse style. As it can be opened wide by swinging up/dropping a pair of leaves, it solved the small size of rooms issue from this period. Here you can find more information about your table: https://buffaloah.com/f/glos/g/gate.html#:~:text=usually%20associated%20with%20William%20and,folded%20up%20to%20save%20space.

Good job, it looks lovely! Although supposedly brown furniture is not desirable at the moment, this surely will appeal and endure long after cheap throwaway furniture or chalk painted furniture has seen it's day.

Based on your photos, I believe the top and drawer are mahogany. I can't see the grain as clearly in the photo of the legs.

Thank you so much for the new comments & info! The table isn’t looking as good as when I cleaned/polished it, but I’m still very hesitant to do anything else. I’m toying with painting, but do feel it will become disposable eventually if I do that

Oh dear, don't paint. But if you must, first spray a coat of clear shellac, you can buy it in a aerosol spray can. That will seal the wood to keep paint from getting into the pores of the wood and make it easier for someone to strip off paint at a laer time. Is good as a primer also. Also consider only painting table top and leave the legs as is., Try some mineral spirits lightly to clean them up.