Old table ID

[Rick Potter]

Hi,

My wife picked up a small table at an estate sale. We know nothing about it, but it has a solid wood drawer bottom, and on the bottom it is stamped PC&TCO with a separate stamp of 97.

The table is about 30" wide and 16" deep, and has a lot of chip carving, and fret work on it.

I have googled everything I can think of, including Pacific Chair & Table Company (the only name I could think of from the initials).

So... anyone know what the initials might stand for?

Sorry no pic until my Tech Staff gets here, and she just had a baby, while the wife is down with covid, so no visitors anyway. I am sleeping in the outside guest room where this table ended up, and have nothing but time on my hands right now, so I thought maybe I could surprise the wife with the answer.

Thanks

[Jim Koepke]

Rick, the drawer could be the key to dating and possibly discovering the maker.

What kind of joinery is holding it together?

If it is dovetailed, can you see the layout lines?

If you can do the saw marks go past the layout lines? This was common during the time of hand cut dovetails to save a little time when clearing the waste.

Another possibility would be cove & pin joinery. This joint was used from about 1871 up to 1900.

The "97" could be a year or a model number.

jtk

[Bob Turkovich]

How about Penn Table & Chair Company - Huntington WV circa 1920-1930?

(Rick - your West Coast bias is showing )

[Rick Potter]

No Dovetails Jim, just an ordinary drawer lock joint on both ends. The drawer has a 1" thick front that is made of some soft hardwood, and has chip carving on it and both sides of the table the table. The drawer back which is also like the front joint is a piece of really bad, hardly sanded wood, and the bottom is 3 pieces of solid wood glued together.

The legs have triple grooves on front edges, some carving, plus add on filigree under the table top. I cannot tell you what style it is, but looks to me like all machine work to me. Definitely not a high priced piece, looks like it could have been in an early Sears catalog.

We paid $15 for it.

[Rick Potter]

Bob, My first thought was 'Potter's Chair and Table Co.' How's that for bias?

I just spent an hour or so trying to run down Penn Table and Chair Co., until it dawned on me the letters were backward, it would be Penn Chair and Table, not Table and Chair.

By the way, I now know that Penn Furniture Co. changed their name to Penn Table Co. in 1906. Still the wrong one.

I will try to get a pic up, curious to see what you call this style. Rococo, Early over the Top, or maybe Keeping up with the Vanderbilt's.

[Bill Dufour]

Sears 1906 tables in catalog pages.
Bill D.
https://farmhousevernacular.com/kitchenmanifestopart3/

[Tom Bender]

Hi Rick
I've posted a thread on how I post pictures. It may entertain you in your isolation.