ANTIQUE ARTS & CRAFTS PERIOD MISSION OAK LIBRARY TABLE / OFFICE DESK WITH TWO DRAWERS
With our absolute highest compliments Bay Colony Antiques takes the utmost pleasure in offering this exceptional antique library table. We are passionate collectors and dealers of Arts & Crafts period design and consider this example to be among the finest library tables we have ever been able to bring to market. During the Arts & Crafts design movement, attention moved away from the opulence of the late Victorian period and towards a renewed emphasis of natural materials and a heightened focus on the labors of highly skilled craftsmen. Handcrafted workmanship is most notable in the through joinery mortise and tenon construction visible where the lower horizontal shelf support makes contact with the left and right side supports. Twin wedges were crafted for both sides so that the library table could be tightly secured without glue or fasteners in keeping with the traditional craftsmanship. This commitment to traditional values is what makes Arts & Crafts furniture vastly superior to ordinary furniture.
This library table is the perfect piece for anyone looking to make an addition to their home office as it is unbelievably sturdy and well suited for regular use. The open design beneath both drawers allows for plenty of leg space which is an important consideration for those who have to sit at their office desk for extended periods of time. As more Americans are working remotely from home we have had an increasingly harder time finding library tables of this quality and have come to expect them to sell quickly to nearly any part of the country. The table is in remarkable condition and boasts pegged construction and dovetailed drawers along with the through wedged mortise and tenon base.
The antique oak library table measures 48" wide x 28" deep x 30" tall overall. The drawers have interior storage spaces that measure 20 3/4" deep x 18 1/4" wide. There is 9 3/4" of clearance height between the floor and lower shelving tier and 12 1/4" of height available between the shelving tier and beneath the drawers. There is 38 3/4" in length for leg space and 22 3/4" of height available between the floor and up to underneath the drawers for leg space.
We inspected this table for markings a collector would expect from the workshops of Gustav or L& JG Stickley, Limbert, Harden, and other leading Arts & Crafts scions however there are no identifying labels. This table is every bit the quality of any comparable example made by those famous workshops and in our opinion even superior to signed counterparts we have recently seen advertised for considerably higher amounts. The previous family who owned this told us it once belonged to an institution in Montana which leads us to believe it was designed and constructed straight from a furniture catalogue from a firm such as the Stickley workshops or sent out west as a finished product. What is undeniable about this library table is that every detail is done with exacting superiority of both construction and design along with the obvious fact that this piece has been extremely well maintained and preserved over the past century.
