Antique breakfast tables

From the 16th to the 18th century, breakfast and supper were generally eaten in the bedroom or small parlour, so early examples of breakfast tables are small. As defined by Chippendale in the 'Director', third edition the breakfast table was a small four legged table with two hinged flaps to extend the top, making it easy to unobtrusivly store when not in use, and sometimes with fretwork decoration to the stretchers. In the late 18th century and early 19th century, breakfast became a more sociable affair, and the breakfast table morphed into a circular table in mahogany, rosewood or highly figured walnut with a tilt-top, on a single pedestal base. The same table could also be called a supper table, but not a loo table, as they are generally oval in shape.