Sydney Uni Oak Refectory Table with Extension Leaves

Sydney University oak refectory table, with rectangular top,…
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Sydney University oak refectory table, with rectangular top, and carved facetted tapering legs, with two end extension leaves, 73 cm x 175 cm x 80 cm

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  • Refectory Table - A long, substantial, solid-topped table, without leaves or extensions, used as a dining table. They were originally used in the refectories, or dining halls of monasteries, and are found in such places as boarding schools and university halls of residence. The tables usually have heavy turned legs, sometimes connected by stretchers close to the floor, and often have additional supporting legs along the railed frame. The term is also sometimes applied to a much shorter solid-topped table with a somewhat Jacobean flavour of the early 20th century.
  • Oak - Native to Europe and England, oak has been used for joinery, furniture and building since the beginning of the medieval civilisation. It is a pale yellow in colour when freshly cut and darkens with age to a mid brown colour.

    Oak as a furniture timber was superceded by walnut in the 17th century, and in the 18th century by mahogany,

    Semi-fossilised bog oak is black in colour, and is found in peat bogs where the trees have fallen and been preserved from decay by the bog. It is used for jewellery and small carved trinkets.

    Pollard oak is taken from an oak that has been regularly pollarded, that is the upper branches have been removed at the top of the trunk, result that new branches would appear, and over time the top would become ball-like. . When harvested and sawn, the timber displays a continuous surface of knotty circles. The timber was scarce and expensive and was used in more expensive pieces of furniture in the Regency and Victorian periods.
  • Faceting - Faceting is a technique of removing material from a curved surface, to give a series of flat surfaces but retaining the profile of the original surface.

    The technique is most commonly associated with diamond cutting where the various cuts used such as rose cut and brilliant cut, add life and sparkle to the stone, whilst at the same time removing as little of the stone as possible.

    Faceting by grinding is also used to decorate glass. The stems of many drinking glasses are decorated by cutting a series of flat surfaces on a circular stem, and hollow vessels such as vases may have faceted surfaces.

    In furniture faceting is often applied to legs of tables and chairs, where a circular baluster shaped section is flattened so as to form an octagonal section.