It is an interesting table with notable design elements. At a glance from a distance, the legs appear of rustic origin, but upon closer inspection, their true beauty is seen. I'm wondering if it was home-built rather than a factory manufactured piece. The workmanship is good. It has an unusal form. Back in the 1940s, my family had a table with similar features, except the center column was round, not square, and had only 2 leves. Our table top was round; yours is square.

Its too bad that the original finish has been 'messed' with. Your only recourse may be to refinish. However, you should get an expert opinion from an appraiser before refinishing. The appraiser will have to see the object before he can give proper guidance. Pictures alone are not good enough. You may be able to get a tenative opinion with better quality photos.

Thanks, jemdandy! I haven't been able to find a label/mark of any kind so I thought it may have been home-built too. It was originally in the family's dairy-farmhouse and has been in various basements for years. In fact, someone along the way even used it as a work bench and a couple of saw marks are visible on the tabletop.....arghhh. The poor condition is really why we have considered refinishing.

Any idea what style this would be categorized as or how old it may be? I'm hoping I can find some chairs that will fit with the table's style/age. I was thinking circa 1900?

It's your basic old square oak dining table, likely dating from about 1910 to 1925 or so.
That size table was very common ( or should I say "usual") in the farm house auctions I have attended....and I have attended hundreds.
That style table is one of the reasons for all the huge linen old tablecloths out there.
I would seriously doubt that is in handmade, none others that I have seen were. It's from that "golden oak" era. Some of those olds quare farmhouse tables had 5 legs, some had the split pedestal as yours does.
Having the original finish won't seriously enhance the value....so I would strip it and bring it back into daily use.
I have one similar that I had cut down into a coffee table....I know!!! But it pleases me more than any new coffee table I have ever seen.
It's a great old table, enjoy it
Linda C

Linda,
Thank you for shedding some light on the history of our table! It's great to know that refinishing it won't effect the value. I'm not overly concerned with it's worth anyway - it's a family piece and as you suggested, we just want to enjoy it.

Now to find some chairs! I have a feeling it will be a challenge to find 10-12 chairs the appropriate style/age....
-Lisa

It will be a maircle to find 10 to 12 matching chairs....but 4 of one kind and 4 of another and 2 of a different would be great.
I would look for the old oak press back chairs...I like the ones with the caned seats. Don't even think of buying repros....they won't cost less and won't look right...go for old ones.
Have fun!
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: Heck of a buy

Thanks for the advice - and the link! It's funny you mentioned the press back chairs with the caned seats. My husband inherited 3 of them from his grandmother and we use them as accent chairs in different areas of the house. The caning is shot but we could get them fixed and use 2 of them - then we would only need two sets of 4...

You can re cane them yourself....it's not rocket science!
Perhaps they were originally used with the table.
Linda C

They definitely weren't used with the table - two different sides of the family.

The shop where we're having it refinished suggested Larkin #1 chairs, which look pretty similar to the three we already have. We're not in a rush. We're waiting to see how the table comes out - and it's taken us YEARS to even make a move on that! lol

Although, I have a feeling I may be giving caning a try.... :)