A curiosity question.

[James Combs]

A client asked me to make some repairs on an old table. Was just wondering what it was or use to be. There is no makers marks or any manufacturers info on it. I may just be out of someones DIY shop. If have ever seen or even have anything like it I would appreciate any details.

It had a glass top that got broken which will be replaced in this repair. The table top that was under glass has a hole in it. We have no idea what the hole was for. The original glass had no corresponding hole.
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It has ball and socket rollers for mobility.
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A swing down door on what I assume is the front
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The glass is framed by a decorative skirt. One side is shown lying on top of the table in its installed orientation. The other sides are in the box.
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Appreciate any thoughts or comments.

[Jim Koepke]

The table top that was under glass has a hole in it. We have no idea what the hole was for. The original glass had no corresponding hole.

The glass may have been placed after the item was salvaged.

From the round mark around the hole, it makes me think there might have been a column supporting a pedestal or even a small rotating cabinet.

jtk

[Steve Eure]

Just a guess here. I've heard of tables that had basins on them with holes f to drain the water out of it without removing the basin. But really don't have a clue.

[Rick Potter]

It appears to me that it may have been cut down from a taller display cabinet at some time. Perhaps the hole was for a lamp? Also a strange way to hinge a door.

My late aunt used to take pieces of old furniture and combine them for her purposes. Reminds me of her work.

[Rob Luter]

I would say it's a smoking stand. The compartment with the door held the owner's tobacco products and an ashtray was fixed to the top. The round mortise accepted a short tenon on the bottom of the ash tray to keep it from moving around. Example shown below.

https://www.harpgallery.com/photos/sz/sta31520nd.jpg?v=1637621808

Here's another

https://chairish-prod.freetls.fastly.net/image/product/master/5b5e0ca0-e9cc-45d6-b77c-e7ae94f2a537/antique-cigar-humidor-smoke-stand-tobacciana-side-table-4670

[Mel Fulks]

I think it’s a curio cabinet. Sometimes they were used for trays of butterflies.

[James Combs]

Thanks Jim Koepke, that might fit in with Bob Luter's comments about it possibly being a smoking stand, maybe the ashtray was raised.

[James Combs]

Thanks Rick Potter, to me it does appear to be something in the DIY category.

[James Combs]

Thanks Rob Luter, I like your suggestions and will be mentioning that possibility to my client. The new piece of glass she gave me to install is probably not the first replacement glass.

[James Combs]

Another possibility but I am leaning toward a tobacco/smoke stand.

[Tom Bender]

It was a helmet display table used by an Egyptian merchant. There was a skeletal frame to hold a bejeweled helmet in specialty shop. To display the gold plating inside there was a mirror not glass.

[Bill Dufour]

I belive the technical term is a "curiosity cabinet". As found in the olde curiosity shop. Probably made by Dickens of London.
Bill D.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Smoking stands in Pulmanns had to be built to keep things from moving around, a friend is currently bringing a UP RR example back to life. It is marked UP. The wash stand theory is interesting because of the state of the veneer. Looks like it's been wet a time or two.