Antique Tables - Item 4110
Gothic Dining Table or Executive Desk

Extends to 118" (almost 10 feet) when leaves are inserted

This large and detailed gothic dining table came to us when we purchased part of an estate in Bordeaux, France. Included were six chairs, a magnificent buffet, a chandelier, a fireplace and this table. Its top has had a clarifying treatment to uncloud the finish and reveal the grain and color of the walnut, and is now extraordinary.
The top is supported by four large and thick, smooth columns with carved foliage near the top (and almost invisible without extra effort). The columns are connected to angled side stretchers that join a central one. Rising from this central stretcher is a panel of Gothic arches within arches, resembling the designs seen in Gothic cathedral and one of the most distinctive elements of the Gothic style. Just above this fenestrage is one of the other classic Gothic elements, a small linenfold panel. The table comes with three insertable extensions, but as the fashion of the period required a tablecloth, these were unseen and consequently were made of rough wood, and are not what we would call presentable if not covered. Each of these is 19 5/8" wide, so if all three were inserted, the total length would be approximately 118" or just under 10 feet in length.
In one of those rare moments in this business, the original creator's paper tags are still attached to the underside of the center stretcher. The ebenistes (wood craftsmen) were Meubles Robert in Nantes in Brittany. They also made the other pieces for their client in Bordeaux, including chairs, fireplace, lighting fixture, and buffet cabinet. We estimate that the table was probably made around 1890.
As with all of our offerings, this magnificent table is perfectly suited to include in your country house, castle or chateaux, as is Gothic style is a perfect complement to Renaissance, Louis XIII styles and Louis XIV chairs, s often found in these luxurious spaces.
 

Boccador, Jacqueline, Le Mobilier Français du Moyen Age à la Renaissance, Editions d'Art Monelle Hayot (Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, 1988); Thirion, Jacques, Le Mobilier du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance en France (Editions Faton, Dijon, 1998); Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène, Le Mobilier Médiéval (Georges Bernage, editor) (Editions Heimdal, 2003)
 

Ideal as it is for dining, it also embraces perfectly the recent trend where  executives opt for a table (see also Item 3308) in their office rather than a desk in the traditional sense.