European Dining Tables

Formal dining in Europe reached its height at high-polished, plateau-topped Roman banqueting tables in the British countryside and on linen-draped trestles in Italian villas. Though modern examples are less luxurious, the great tradition of formal dining lives on in European dining tables.

In the 16th-century Tudor era, planked dining tables with large, cylindrical turned legs were the norm before single and double pedestal tables became popular. In England's Georgian age, large dining tables with numerous legs and pedestals often had removable leaves which allowed them to expand or downsize as the occasion dictated. In the 19th-century, high-gloss mahogany dining tables became all the rage.

Later European dining table styles were created as part of the Victorian, French Restoration, and Gothic Revival to the Louis XVI, Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, and Modernist movements.

Whether in search of a piece worthy of a special event or regular stylish entertaining or shopping for the ideal place to gather and dine at the center of hearth and home, auctions feature a variety of options to suit one's needs.

Quick Facts

• In a June 2015 Leland Little auction, a French Art Deco mirrored dining table went for $1,500
• In October 2015, a 19th-century George III rosewood cross-banded mahogany dining table sold at Freeman's for $3,250
• A Spanish Baroque style dining table sold at a June 2007 Bonham's Los Angeles auction for $600