Rustic Cheese Top Cricket Table

Description

A rustic early 19th century English cricket table with a round hand-hewn thick oak “cheese” top supported on three through-tenon ash legs. Attractive natural surface. Bears pencil-written inscription to underside of top “This stand was made by Uncle John Bainbridge (sp?) and is about 100 years old. The property of Eleanor Hunsford (sp?). May 26th, 1915, CHK Sr.”, implying that the table was hand-made circa 1815. It is very rare and almost unique to be able to learn the actual name of the craftsman of a piece of early English vernacular furniture, as, unlike with modern furniture, vernacular pieces were almost never signed. This one was a cherished possession and memory for an English family for at least a century.