What is the price  range for purchasing a genuine antique American
roll top dining room table that was built around the time of the Civil
War?

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Request for Question Clarification by kyrie26-ga on 19 Aug 2002 12:21 PDT

Hi,

What exactly is a "roll top" table?


Thanks

kyrie26-ga

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Clarification of Question by temcolumbia-ga on 20 Aug 2002 06:36 PDT

You have probably seen, in any furniture store, roll top desks. They
were very popular in the 19th C., usually make of oak, distinguished
by a wood cover that rolled down from the top to enclose the entire
writing service and any drawers. The top is made of wooden slats,
about 1 inch in with. Each slat was connected by tongue and grouve to
the slats next to it. This design allowed the entire slatted 'top' to
roll down the back of the desk when not in use and to be pulled down
to cover the entire front of the desk, and then locked in place. Our
dinningroom table is similarly constructed, but the movable slats take
the place of the more conventional matching wood insert, or 'leaf,'
that is used in most dinningroom tables. Roll top tables such as ours
are very rare. I have never seen one in a store or in my casual 
parusal of antique catelogues.
If you need any further clarification, just let me know.
Thanks,
Tom

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Request for Question Clarification by nenna-ga on 20 Aug 2002 07:19 PDT

Can you describe the table? Do you have a picture on a site somewhere
so I could show it? What condition is it in? These are all
factors....Are you looking to sell or purchase for yourself?

Nenna-GA

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Clarification of Question by temcolumbia-ga on 20 Aug 2002 13:45 PDT

I don't have a digital photo - or a camera. The table is large and
very heavy. We are currently using it as our dinning room table. It
functions perfectly well but it is not in perfect condition because if
it is a valuable antique, restoring it could reduce its value. I
cannot decide what to do with it until I have some idea of its value.
We know that it has been in my wife's family for at least 60 years,
but we have no way of dating its actual age.