Gateleg table

A gateleg table or gate-leg table is a type of furniture first introduced in England in the 16th century. The tabletop has a fixed section and one or two hinged leaves, which, when not in use, fold down below the fixed section to hang vertically.

Description

Gateleg tables are a subset of the type known as a dropleaf. The hinged section, or flap, was supported on pivoted legs joined at the top and bottom by stretchers constituting a gate. Large flaps had two supports, which had the advantage of providing freer leg space in the centre.^[1] The earliest gateleg tables of the 16th and 17th centuries were typically made of oak.

Images

• 
  Gateleg table, between 1690 and 1720, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• 
  Gateleg table, between 1700 and 1750, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• 
  Gateleg table of maple and tulip polar wood, New England, 1715-1730, Chazen Museum of Art.
• 
  Gateleg table, between 1715 and 1740, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

See also

• English furniture
• Knole Settee