Text: Jennifer Boles
Among the myriad antique furniture styles that remain sought-after today, one of the most practical might be the draper’s table. Named for the drapers, or cloth merchants, who first used them, draper’s tables are the workhorses of the furniture world, which is fitting, considering their commercial roots.
Although the Industrial Revolution rendered some furniture forms obsolete, in the case of the draper’s table, it helped to establish its prevalence. Because of technological innovations such as the spinning jenny, which allowed textile mills to produce more cloth in less time, fabrics, particularly those made of cotton, became less expensive. With a broader portion of nineteenth-century European society able to afford manufactured fabrics, the textile trade boomed, and the number of cloth purveyors multiplied to meet customer demand.
Given the unwieldy length of the fabrics that a draper typically dealt with, an easy way of handling them was required. The solution was the draper’s table, which was designed specifically for the unfurling and cutting of fabric. Usually very lengthy, the draper’s table gave the merchant, or even a haberdasher, enough surface area to unroll the fabric to the desired length for cutting. Many draper’s tables also had multiple drawers to hold shears and other tools. To provide additional storage for fabrics, the tables were frequently made with a lower shelf that ran the length of the table.
Especially popular among French and English merchants, the draper’s table was considered a utilitarian piece of furniture, which meant that luxurious materials and embellishments were usually lacking. Typically made of dependable oak, but sometimes walnut, pine, or even cherrywood, the tables tended to be rather plain in style. When decorative flair was added, it typically appeared on the table’s legs, which were sometimes turned to give them shape. Not every draper’s table, however, lacked panache. Those that were crafted for use in high-end cloth and dressmaker shops would sometimes be made of expensive woods, such as mahogany, and adorned with elaborate carvings. For the most part, luxury versions of the table were rare.
Draper’s tables continued to be commonly used for their original purpose into the early twentieth century until industrial advancements once again brought about change. As customers began gravitating to factory-made clothing and soft furnishings, dressmaker and fabric shops began to decrease in number. Draper’s tables, however, embarked on a second act. Thanks to their generous size and useful design, the tables became popular antiques, particularly for residential rooms that were more casual in style. Now often found in kitchens, where they assume the role of an island, or anywhere else a large table surface is needed, draper’s tables are the embodiment of functional design.
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• Unlike some furniture styles, draper’s tables tend to have a standard form that rarely deviates from six supporting legs, one to two drawers, and a lower shelf. Variety was occasionally introduced through wood species and leg shape. “The tables were made from readily available local wood species, and in Europe, that usually meant oak. The legs are often turned into the most lovely shapes, although occasionally I have seen a table with very spare and square legs,” says Dallas-based designer Kristin Mullen of Kristin Mullen Designs.
• According to Mullen, French-made tables dominate the market today, although furniture makers in England, Belgium, and Italy also produced them. Antique examples can date as far back as the eighteenth century.
• “Pricing for these tables ranges widely, depending upon the condition, size, detail, rarity, and patina on the piece. Most seem to start at $6,000 and go up from there. The especially long tables can fetch a great deal more,” Mullen says. The designer often uses the tables in her clients’ homes as a secondary kitchen island or to anchor a long wall.
