Pedestal Dining Tables

A pedestal dining table carries its top on a central column rather than on legs at the corners, so nobody sits astride a leg. Made to order in solid oak, cherry, mahogany or walnut, in single, double or triple pedestal form.

The point of a pedestal is legroom. With no leg at each corner, chairs pull straight in, an extra person can always be fitted at the end, and the whole table reads lighter in a room than a frame table of the same size. It is the form English cabinetmakers settled on for formal dining two hundred years ago and nobody has improved on it since.

The forms we make

Single pedestal. One column, one splayed foot, one top. The best answer for a round or oval table seating four to six, and the form that takes carving best.

Double pedestal. Two columns under a longer rectangular or oval top: a table for eight or ten with no corner legs at all. The pedestals sit inboard of the ends, so a carver at each end pulls straight in.

Four-column round extending pedestal. A round top on a cluster of four columns rising from one splayed base, with an extending action that opens to take leaves. The most substantial of the round forms and the steadiest when extended.

Round square-cut pedestal. The column cut square rather than turned, for flat faces and a more architectural line.

Bandsaw twin pedestal. Broad shaped standards cut from the solid instead of turned columns, in the same family as the bandsaw-base refectory.

Circular extending. A round top opening on slides to take one or more leaves, becoming an oval.

Round kitchen table with two leaves. The same idea at kitchen scale: round day to day, with one or both leaves in when there are more of you.

Sussex. Extending tables with tapered or turned legs and drop leaves, so the leaves come up at the sides and the frame opens for insert leaves. Frequently specified in cherry.

Victorian. The nineteenth-century dining table proper, on heavier turned legs, with or without leaves. Shown here in cherry.

For tables that extend without a loose leaf to store, see drawleaf tables.

Sizes

Made to your dimensions. These are the sizes we build most often.

Allow about 24in of table edge per person and about 36in of clearance behind the chairs, measured at the extended size rather than the closed one. A 54in round seats five or six; opened to an oval it will take eight.

Timbers

Oak, cherry, mahogany and walnut as standard, and every table is made in all four. Mahogany and walnut suit the Victorian and pedestal forms; cherry is the usual choice for Sussex; oak carries the bandsaw and square-cut columns.

Specials, quoted on application: character oak; pippy oak in light, medium and heavy grades, for tops; oak selected for medullary ray, within or without the timber; and clean timber with no knots at all. Finishes: polished, painted, limed, sand-blasted, rub-through paint, natural, or colour matched to a sample you send us.

A round top is a large uninterrupted area of timber, so figure and colour matter more here than on almost any other piece.

Order timber and finish samples first.

Made to your size

Diameter, length, depth, height, column profile, foot shape and the number and size of leaves are all yours to set. Common changes: a column carved to match an existing piece; a foot reduced so a rug sits flat; leaves sized to a particular extended length; pedestal spacing altered so a set of chairs pulls in.

Where the piece is a new design rather than a variation, our designers draw it before anything is cut. See bespoke and commissioning.

Chairs to go with it

Usually specified with the dressier chair patterns — panel back, Cromwellian, Chippendale-style and Caquetoire carvers — with drop-in or fully upholstered seats. See chairs.

Prices

Quoted to size and specification. Tell us the form, the closed and extended dimensions, the timber and the finish and we will give you a guide price. Special timbers and finishes are priced on application. Standard lead time is normally twelve weeks, and up to sixteen when the workshop is busy. Your date is confirmed when you order.

Clients who commission a extending dining table often ask who does their panelling or their kitchen. The answer is the next bench along: Reeve & Co Interiors for fitted joinery, Square & True for kitchens.

In the room

A round table changes how a room is used: everyone can see everyone, and there is no head of the table. The one below is a single pedestal in polished oak, with hoop-back chairs made to go with it rather than bought in.