Old Pub Table


springerdog1

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I may be wrong, but what you have there looks very much like a British-made draw-leaf dining table. It's certainly a style that was mass-produced here for three decades.

 

Pub table?  Well, I suppose that a lot of them ended up in pubs. But they were at one time a sought-after piece of domestic furnishing.

 

That pattern of table was made in the thousands from the 1930s right up to the 50s in all sorts of styles from simple, to fairly ornate, like yours with barley-twist legs. The better (more expensive) sort were solid wood (Oak in the main) the cheaper ones looked the same but the tops and aprons were veneered. All respectable parlours had one.

 

From 1942 they came under the Wartime Utility Scheme, designed to reflect the scarcity of raw materials and satisfy an increasing demand from war damaged housing that need to be refurnished. These bore a Utility mark underneath (a black circle with a segment missing), which carried on into the post-war period as long as rationing lasted.

 

Many of them ended up on the second hand market in the 1970s then came back into fashion again briefly. Some were exported as…. English Pub tables!

I remember seeing one for sale in a swanky shop in Tokyo once at an eye-watering price.

 

Anyway, assuming that it’s British made, the original finish was either a copal-type varnish or sprayed shellac. The big draw back was that either finish would leave ring-marks from hot or wet cups. They were usually stained or fumed a dark brown to resemble antique Oak.

 

The finish on yours appears to have been scraped down to basic wood from the photo, but parts of the original finish may remain out of sight under the leaves and this is what will determine what your finish is going to be. If it were completely bare wood on a new table, I would use a few coats of Danish oil, but this probably won’t settle very well on an old finish; otherwise it’s back to the original varnish or shellac. Whatever you do, you may even consider experimenting with restoring the original dark finish. But that’s up to you.

 

What ever you do  good luck, because if it is solid wood (and not veneered), you have some nice pieces of quarter-sawn Oak in the top and they are excellent tables.

 

All best from Wales.

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I think that it's a matter of your own preference.

 

If it's what I think it is  - a British draw-leaf dining table - then when they were new, in the thirties and forties, they were without exception sold with a medium Oak colour finish.

In those days, more often than not, they were fumed, instead of dyed.

In fumed wood the colour effect tends to penetrate deeper into the surface than dyes, depending on the length of exposure and strength of the solution.

 

Instead of buying pre-coloured Oil and being comitted to one shade, you can dye your own ordinary clear Danish Oil very easily by adding a small amount of (spirit based, not water) wood dye. But you need to experiment to get the coulour right. I've found that the first or second coat of oil is enough to establish the colour you want; thereafter it's a  matter of adding more coats of clear oil (which will darken very slightly anyway) on top to provide the body.

 

All best

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