Item 4135 Walnut and Oak Dining Table (Extendable) Wood Solid oak with walnut inlay Country France Date Circa 1900 Description This dining table is unique in combining architectural elements from Gothic and Renaissance architecture in a rich, warm walnut, including an inlaid top. To extend out and to accommodate up to 12 people, the table offers extensions.  They do not involve the design we encounter so often, based on the craftsman's expectations that when in use unfinished extensions of inferior materials would be covered by a fancy tablecloth.  Instead, these extensions fit underneath the table, are beautifully finished, and can be pulled out whenever extra seating capacity and horizontal surface are needed. The design of the table is based on the classic library table evoking Italian Renaissance architecture but ultimately dating back to Roman times when a similar trestle design was discovered during excavation of the Roman Emperor Nero's infamous Domus Aureus. The rhythmic alteration of arched space and fluted columns, coupled with the end panels in classic Renaissance decoration of palm leaf, half-moon shaped flower and arabesques are far more intriguing than the average dining table. Particularly unusual is the top, divided into 24 oak squares framing inlaid, burl walnut in a lighter and more golden shade than the oak.  Being fans of walnut, we love to see furniture showing off the beauty of the wood itself, but to find an inlaid table top of such age and so beautifully preserved, is rare.   Reference Ader-Tajan, Collection Bruno Perrier Haute Epoque (Catalog for Sale at Auction on April 6, 1992 at the Hôtel Drouot, Paris); Boccador, Jacqueline, Le Mobilier Français du Moyen Age à la Renaissance, Editions d'Art Monelle Hayot (Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, 1988); Boussel, Patrice, Les Styles du Moyen Age à Louis XIV  (Baschet et Cie, Paris, 1979); Thirion, Jacques, Le Mobilier du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance en France (Editions Faton, Dijon, 1998)   Uses This table is ideal for a dining room large enough to be extended at all times and the lush beauty of the burled walnut and the exquisite hand-carved details can be enjoyed.