I think you'd have to close your eyes to call that one an "antique."

I suppose if you were to close your eyes really tight and pretend really hard you could call it an "antique farm table."

I don't know what it would take to call it an "antique Shaker table" but I bet there are folks out there who could even do that!

Perhaps they mean a table made like an antique one...
Skip this....go b uy the other one....if it doesn't need carpentry work you can refinish it....if you are smart enough to tie your shoes.
If it needs carpentry work, hire it done. Refinishing is expensive because it's time consuming and a refinisher has to have the piece occupying his work space while it dries between coats etc......You can do it for maybe $50 worth of materials.

LOL. Thanks a bunch!

Now, I just wonder who the appraiser was who appraised it at 900.00. Seller would let me have it for 600.00.

I am certainly no antique expert. I am just old enough to see stuff that as kids we might have been taught to call Vintage (if that form had been used by anyone) now being antique. Interesting and depressing. I am under the impression that cgard MAY be being a little hard on that table although one wonders what those chairs are supposed to be. The planks are also very narrow for a likely old table and it sure looks like it has a big ol' coat of poly on it that would have to be new if the table were actually old.

But anyway: I am pleased to find that my initial thought upon reading your post before seeing the responses was exactly as (in house expert) lindac wrote. You seem to be looking for an ANTIQUE. If you were just looking for a nice shiny table, you could go to some local garage sales or a new furniture store and pick one up. The idea of something old is to let the old show thru. Lindac and others are suggesting that your first post's table a; is the real deal and b; could likely just be wiped down to let the grain show thru again. Perhaps a treatment with the Fromby stuff would work. In any case, not a lot of work. Or get a little electric sander and gently sand the top if necessary. Of course, this all assumes that those leaves are not veneered. I suppose that would mean that they came from a different table. But since lindac and someone else has happily had multiple copies of such tables I imagine that all would be OK. You still have to verify!

Funny, I looked for the asking price, but didn't see it. Was this 'contact seller for price'?

Perhaps it's a table made w/ 'antique' wood?

And plenty of people refinish 'antiques' w/ polyurethane. Not everybody is savvy about such things.

$600 seems overpriced, IMO.

A line from the book In The Garden Of Good and Evil . New money wants a Antique to look new. I think a antique should show its age.

Yes, I contacted the seller for dimensions and price for the pine table.

As far as what table I want, I'd really like to use it without cloth. I actually have an antique cherry table (solid), which has space for plenty of leaves, but it only came with one leaf that the owner made.

Where would I get more leaves that more or less match?

Any competent cabinet maker can make what you need. Nowadays it's hard to get a piece of Cherry wider than 8 inches and your leaves appear to be between 10 and 11 inches wide and therefore were made up of three 4 inch wide boards, probably splined and glued together. No problem that because it reduces the probability of cupping or twisting of the leaf, but spend the extra money and specify premium grade lumber instead of common, avoiding those blotches of color that appear willy nilly when the strips are glued up.

That's spectacular!! Spend your $$ on leaves for that table rather than another!!

I bought it from a older couple (diplomats) who were downsizing. They got it in Belgium at an antique market a long time ago. I honestly don't care whether it's antique, but it has lovely patina and just glows.

It's about 44" long, a bit narrower. Each board is about 10-11". (I have a mismatched 25" insert leave).

Do you know any cabinetmaker in the DC/mid Atlantic area, and what's a reasonable price I'm looking at?

Van Dykes sells leaves http://www.vandykes.com/?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Restorers_Brand&utm_content=Restorers_Brand_Brand&ef_id=WCwg1wAAACmwkCte:20170410123719:s

Golly, nyboy, it's been years since I've seen (or even thought about) a VanDykes catalog...

Okay, nosoccermom, there's a starting point, Van Dykes does sell 11 inch leaves in three lengths for $97.54, but only in Red Oak, which you don't want unless you choose to use the tablecloth every time, and you would prefer not to. Cherry is more expensive than Red Oak. A leaf from Van Dykes would add a shipping cost which you should add into your cost estimate. They sell only unfinished leaves, so finishing is another cost (or a project that you may or may not want to take on) to add. I didn't look to see if the price of the Van Dykes leaf includes alignment pegs or not, but that is something you do want, another cost to add.

So when you do the math you'll see that it's not exactly cheap, probably close to the same amount of money that you would like to spend on that Walnut table, should it turn out to be anything you want, but there will be additional money to spend on that one too...

Nobody ever said making decisions was easy.

You could just flip a coin, I've done that lots of times. Sometimes I'm unhappy with the result, but that could happen no matter how I made the decision, and that is why I decline to make, or even try to influence your decision for you.

I know what I'd do, but I don't know what you should do. And sometimes I'm wrong.

Deciding whether or not to cross the street is beginning to look easy, isn't it? At least I haven't got that one wrong, so far.

Definitely no oak. The current leaf (25") is a pretty nice match, so I'd like more of those. We are sure that this is actually cherry, are we?

My husband makes decisions by flipping coins; I don't....

I just don't want to end up with more and more tables, none of which is the "one". Last count, I already have four and basically only need two and a desk :)

So will go to the friendly woodworker store nearby to ask what they suggest/recommend.

Well, I certainly don't think it is cherry. I have modern solid cherry and it is much redder and gets darker with a year or two of manufacture. Of course I have no idea about European woods. I doubt that it is maple either, although that would be the color, but not grain expected.

I'm taking your word that it's Cherry, because otherwise I'd be on the same page as chas045-- the color and grain is not what I'd expect to see from Cherry but I never put much faith in the color representation found in a digital image posted on a site I'm looking at on a computer.

Your conclusion, however, is a good one. I see there's a Woodcraft store in Springfield, VA... I don't know how close that might be for you, but as retail chain stores go, Woodcraft is one of the good ones. Retail pricing (may seem a little high), but they maintain an excellent stock and, most important, the chain seems to put value on hiring a knowledgeable, helpful staff. The Woodcraft store nearest to me is 35 miles away. I don't go often, once every two or three years, but if I need to, I don't hesitate.

That doesn't mean there aren't equally good stores closer to you, it just means that I don't know the DC area when in comes to shopping.

You can ask not only if it's really Cherry, but also see if they don't have a list (maybe official, maybe not) of local or nearby woodworkers who are up to the project.

I am sure that what we know today as "cherry" doesn't look a lot like what 150 years ago in northern Europe was known as cherry. And it mgiht be yew...or pear...or...or...?

I have a very VERY primitive walnut....shall we call it a wash stand? I call it that because it had a spot where a cake of soap had been laid for a long time....it was then painted green.
Anyhow the sides and top are made from a walnut board a generous inch thick and 24 inches wide. That was some big-ass tree!! and the grain bears little resemblance to any "walnut" I might find in a furniture store.
Anyhow, match the leaves as best you can....doesn't matter if it's cherry, apple, pecan or another hardwood. just stain the basic color to match what you have.

Hm, I have to say that close-up picture is very much true to color (on my monitor at least). It's certainly not reddish at all. Of course, no idea if cherry comes with those knot holes.

However, check this out. Looks like my table.

https://www.rubylane.com/item/358414-58141/Louis-Philippe-Style-Dining-Table

Now that is a table!

Forgive me for being a little hypercritical, but those legs are, to use the proper French, trés svelte compared to those on your table.

That said, the color is just what I'd hope for in piece of antique Cherry furniture, European or American.

And in case you didn't know, Olivier Fleury is not your run-of-the-mill Ruby Lane dealer... It's a top-of-the-ladder importer of French furniture, both country and formal. I wouldn't expect them to offer anything less than a really good example and I expect they are very unhappy about whatever damage that leg has sustained.

And I'm certain that pictures of their inventory are taken by professional photographers under ideal lighting conditions, so if your table really does have color like that, well, what more can I say... parfait.

No problem, I like my legs :) And I have to say that the color of my table is very much like the last picture. The top is super smooth despite the knots and crack.

Quick update: Talked to the local woodworker club where they also sell wood etc. They think they can connect me with a woodworker. Each leaf should run about 25.00 plus labor at 100.00/hour. Will meet with the "expert" next week.

Good!

Same advice applies when you're looking for someone to work on your house (or, in this case, your furniture) as when you're considering something to buy privately: Be pleasant and be picky. You're always allowed to say "Thank you, but I'll keep looking."