A style of table of which there are many specimens found in Connecticut is shown in Figure 693. The legs are slightly raked and the leaves are supported by large wings which are pivoted in the stretchers. The form of these supports has given the table the name of "butterfly." Of course, were it not for the raked legs, it would be impossible to fasten the supports to the stretchers and have them clear the rail. There is one drawer with raked sides. This piece is the property of Mr. H. W. Erving.

Figure 693. 'Butterfly" Table, about 1700.

Figure 694. 'Butterfly" Table, about 1700.

Turned Table, about 1675.

Figure 694 shows another and larger "butterfly" table. The legs have a considerably greater rake than has the one shown in the preceding figure. Tables of this kind usually have straight instead of turned stretchers, and are made of maple or cherry, and rarely of oak.

All through the turned-leg period are found innumerable small tables with round, oval, or rectangular tops, each differing slightly from the other. The earliest were of oak, and the stretchers and the rails were moulded in the manner of the chests Figure 695 shows one of these small tables made of oak with a rectangular top. The heavy turnings and underbracings are suggestive of the large oak table shown in Figure 673, and it belongs to the same period. The skirt is cut in ogee curves, and two pendent drops finish the centres of the arches. This table is the property of the Historical Society of Old Newbury.

Figure 696 shows a table a little better than the usual run of small tables. It is made of oak with knob-turned legs and stretchers. The skirt is cut in ogee curves, as in the preceding figure, and three drops finish the lower edge. The drawer is on side runners and has two panels in the manner of the oak chests. On the sides and between the panels on the drawers are split spindles, and turtle-head bosses are in the panels. This table is very low and was probably intended to hold a desk-box. It is the property of the writer.

Figure 696. Turned Table with panel drawer, last quarter seventeenth century.

Another small wainscot table made of oak is shown in Figure 697. The turnings are large and the underbracings heavy, which indicates an early date. The skirt is cut from the solid with a flaring serrated edge. This method of ornamentation is quite commonly met with on the tables before 1700. This table is the property of Mr. H. W. Erving.

An interesting table, the property of Mr. Dwight M. Prouty, of Boston, is shown in Figure 698. The legs are turned in the vase, ring, and bulb pattern. Across the front is a drawer on side runners, and another drawer on side runners is shown at the end. The latter is divided into compartments, showing that the piece was intended to be used as a dressing-table.

Figure 697. Turned Table, last quarter seventeenth century.

Figure 698. Turned Table, last quarter seventeenth century.

An early style of table that was popular both here and in England is shown in Figure 699. The bracing, instead of continuing about the base of the piece as it does in the preceding figures, joins the front and rear legs with a cross-bracing through the centre, and about half-way up the legs are stretchers between the front legs and between the rear legs. The purpose of so arranging the stretchers is apparent, for it would enable a person to sit at the table. It seems almost incredible that so small a table should require so many stretchers, but such was the fashion of the time and it is one of the chief characteristics of the period. The legs and stretchers on this table are spiral-turned, similar to the chair shown in Figure 447, to which period it belongs. It is in the Bolles Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Figure 699. Spiral Turned Table, about 1650.

Another table in the same collection is shown in Figure 700. The heavy underbracings are seen on the back and two sides, but the front one is turned and placed high, as in the preceding figure. The legs are ball-turned. Two large, elaborately cut frets, separated by a pendant, finish the skirt, and on the stiles on either side of the drawer are rectangular chamfered bosses. A dentil moulding finishes the edge under the top.

Figure 701 shows another table of the same form and construction as that shown in Figure 699. The skirt is cut in a serrated edge and a single-arch moulding is about the lower edge of the rail. The drawer, as is usual in these early pieces, is on side runners. The turning is particularly good, being knob-turned with a double vase-turning at the centre. This table is the property of Mr. Dwight M. Prouty, of Boston.

Figure 700. Turned Table, second half seventeenth century.

Figure 701. Turned Table, last quarter seventeenth century.