Antiques & Collecting: Clever table brought $13,000 at auction

A table has four legs and a flat top — except when it is designed by a clever cabinetmaker. Freeman’s Auction in Philadelphia sold an unusual rosewood table with two partial shelves built below the 20-inch square tabletop. It is decorated with carved dragons on the brackets and a spider and fly inlay of mixed metal and mother-of-pearl.

The Anglo-Japanese inlaid rosewood table was made by A. and H. Lejambre of Philadelphia around 1880; the company produced work from 1865 to 1907. Similar tables are in several museums. The table sold at auction for $13,000.

My parents bought a home in Florida and purchased the contents, including an interesting table used as a lamp table. The top flips to one side, doubling its surface, and can be raised for storage. Open, it measures 17 inches high by 34 inches square. A label reads “Williams-Kimp Furniture Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.” Could you tell me more about this table and its value?

Game tables were popular during the 18th and 19th centuries — first in England, and then in the United States. Cabinetmakers designed clever tables suitable for writing letters and for pastimes like playing cards, chess or backgammon.

The tables looked like regular tables when not in use. Some had a hinged top that folded, swiveled or slid open to reveal a playing surface. Others had a game board inlaid on top.

The Williams-Kimp Furniture Co. started in Grand Rapids in 1923. It was purchased by Baker Furniture in 1951. The company made reproductions of American Federal furniture including dining sets, secretaries, desks, chairs and pieces like your game table. Your table is worth about $175 to $225.

I have 11 Imperial Glass Whirling Star Marigold Iridescent punch cups and have no idea how to price them. Can you help?

Imperial’s Whirling Star pattern in Marigold was only made in punch sets. The compete set, including the punch bowl, base and 12 cups, sells for about $300 to $450.

A set with the punch bowl and six cups was offered for sale for $95. Whirling Star punch cups in other colors sell for about $5 or $6. The set has been reproduced.

Current Prices

Windsor chair, maple, pine, triple comb, continuous arm, ring-turned legs, 40 x 25 inches, $1,080.

Secretary desk, shaped crown, 2 doors, 3 drawers, ribbons, birds, cream ground, 84 x 35 inches, $1,680.

Farm table, dining, chip carved oak, overhang top, drawer, tapered block legs and square feet, c. 1810, 29 x 70 inches, $4,000.

Tub chair, mahogany, carved, rounded back, scrolled arms, leafy uprights, flared legs, brass cuffs, casters, 36 x 24 inches, $7,040.

Tip: Store drinking glasses and vases right side up to protect the rims.