You might not find anything - many older pieces are pretty unique, and no one has put most of them on the internet. Don't quote me on this, but the wood grain to me suggests pine on the legs, and on the top, possibly plywood over hardwood - you can sometimes see the board edges through the stain if this is the case. Together this would make it a less valuable piece, and probably from the 30-40s. It's a cute little thing and practical, nothing to be embarrassed about having in the house, but not heirloom quality (and even with heirloom quality, if you don't have space you don't have space). Karin L

Yes, I do have a problem distinguishing between homeless pieces of furniture and stray cats :-) True about those old casters - I try to avoid rolling them on the pieces I have. Check them, but if you want it to actually roll I would probably get new casters. At least the leg length will already be right for them. One bonus to its condition, by the way - the original finish is all off the top. That saves you stripping it. But it's OK on the legs, so you don't need to strip those. Perfect project. One thing that should be made clear is that a $40 table at a yard sale or on craigslist is quite legitimately at least an $80 table in a store. If you've ever shopped on craigslist you'll know why - you shop at each item owner's convenience (and they always live in the back of beyond), while the shop owner invests quite a lot - utilities, inventory, and time - in being in the store at your convenience. In effect she's out there shopping for you. And probably gives up a percentage of the sale to the credit card company in many cases :-) Good point about making an offer so low it's insulting. Some people don't care about that but I do too, as I like to feel welcome in the store again! It's easier to lowball if an item has been on the market for a a while. But even if it has, the insult can come from both the number itself, and in how you do it. What I usually do with an overpriced item on craigslist is to say that I am interested, but I don't think I could pay more than $xxx, but I'm absolutely not in a rush so if they want to wait and see if they can get their price they're welcome to do that. Some variant of that could work. Given all the factors you've mentioned, I wouldn't be embarrassed to go as high as the $100 range, or whatever would leave you still feeling good. If the leg is truly broken (I can't see that), that would maybe take it down a notch. KarinL PS a cabinet scraper might do a better job than a sander on the top, and doesn't make so much dust. Here is a link that might be useful: example of a specialty caster store

That's a beautiful table, well-made and a genuine antique. Notice how the legs are mortised and pegged. There is one problem. Suppose you were a master craftsman making a table like that, wouldn't you pick the absolute best quality boards for the top? The top shown is all secondary, shelving grade lumber. Is it possible that it was veneered and the veneer has been removed? Also, there is nothing about that table that is unique to Belgium, many examples just like it can be found which are American made. Link has pic of cherry grain which this table clearly is not. Here is a link that might be useful: Cherry pic

The picture from the bottom does not show the cleat but only some nasty glue work. My urban legend take on this is someone was asked to repair the table. The glue job did not meet with wife's approval. Rather than doing it over or simply refinishing the probably drunken mind decided that since there was probably a table covering why not just sink a strap. Wife would still not be pleased but she could use the table. Given the color differences between the legs and top I am still not convinced that this was not a marriage at sometime in the past based on the color differences in the third picture from the top. The leg that swings has an attached board that is much darker than the board that it would swing against when closed. The leg on the far left matches the color of the table but the leg in the center and the far right do not. Even stranger to my eye is that the leg in the back the bottom portion of the leg matches the table but the upper portion does not. Some of the differences could be from sun bleaching.