The Windward Table | Antique Oak Extension Dining Table

• Type: Extension dining table; round top that lengthens with three separate leaves

• Style: American Golden Oak period; a round quarter-sawn oak pedestal extension table

• Date: Circa early twentieth century; its form is characteristic of the American Golden Oak period, while the retailer's label places its sale in the 1920s

• Origin: Retailed in San Francisco by M. Friedman & Co., 259-273 Post Street; a retail origin, not the place of manufacture, which is not established

• Material: Quarter-sawn oak, identified by the broad ray fleck of the top and corroborated by the acquisition tag marked "Oak"; refinished, not lab-confirmed

• Finish: Stripped and refinished in restoration to a lighter honey tone; the present surface dates to the restoration, not the period

• Construction: Round quarter-sawn oak top with a beveled edge; a pedestal of turned columns around a central octagonal post, over four downswept legs that end in squared feet on casters; three separate leaves; existing joinery

• Maker & Origin: Unattributed as to maker; the underside carries a retailer's label (M. Friedman & Co.), which is not a maker's mark

• Condition: Restored; surface stripped and refinished. No structural alteration, replacement, or reconstruction is documented in the Acanthus Home restoration record

• Dimensions: 47 in. diameter closed; each leaf 9⅛ in. wide; three leaves add 27⅜ in.; extended top about 47 × 74⅜ in.; height not yet measured (approximately 28 in., to be confirmed in hand before it is published as a spec)

• Retained: The quarter-sawn oak top, pedestal base, extension structure, three separate leaves, and existing joinery. The documented restoration did not alter the proportions.

• Replaced: Nothing was replaced in the documented work.

• Reconstructed: No elements were reconstructed.

• Repaired: No structural repairs are documented; the restoration was confined to the finish.

• Finish Work: The surface was stripped and refinished to a lighter honey tone, unifying the wood while preserving its material character. The present surface dates to the restoration.

• Other: The underside carries the printed retail label of M. Friedman & Co. and two partly legible ink stencils, separate from the label and not yet transcribed. These are part of the object's history and were left undisturbed.

The extension is the table's defining feature. Three separate leaves, each 9⅛ inches wide, are added in turn to lengthen the top. Closed, it reads as a fixed 47-inch round table; with all three leaves in place, the top reaches approximately 74⅜ inches in length, while preserving the alignment, proportion, and continuity of the surface. The leaves are separate boards, set in place when the table is opened rather than housed within the base, so extending the table is a matter of drawing the top apart and adding them in turn.

The underside carries the printed retail label of M. Friedman & Co., 259-273 Post Street, San Francisco, "The Biggest Furniture House on the Pacific Coast," with handwritten stock notations. M. Friedman & Co. was a retailer, not a manufacturer, so the label records where and roughly when the table was sold, not who made it: the firm held the 259-273 Post Street frontage from about 1921 until it sold its stock in April 1929, which places the sale in the 1920s. No maker's mark has been identified, so the table is offered without maker attribution. The form is characteristic of American Golden Oak period furniture, which was made in quantity and distributed through retailers across the country. Without a maker's mark, its place of manufacture cannot be established. Two partly legible ink stencils on the underside, separate from the retailer label, are not yet transcribed.

The table is built in quarter-sawn oak, identified by the broad medullary ray fleck that quarter-sawing exposes across the top. The broad top is worked to a softly rounded geometry, its beveled edge easing the transition from surface to perimeter so the figure of the grain stays visually dominant. The top is carried on a pedestal of turned columns arranged around a central octagonal post, over four downswept legs that end in squared feet on casters. Three separate leaves lengthen the top. The existing joinery was retained during restoration.

Tables of this kind answered a familiar domestic need across the late 19th and early 20th centuries: a room was expected to stay composed in daily use yet seat a larger gathering on occasion, and the separate-leaf extension table let a single object do both. The Windward Table was made within that tradition, in the early 20th century on the evidence of its form. Its first documented chapter is its retail: the underside label places its sale with M. Friedman & Co. of San Francisco in the 1920s. It was later kept in a long-held estate on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, by owner account, and came to Acanthus Home with its six chairs, the acquisition tag reading "Vintage Oak Dining Room Table + 6 Chairs." Its most recent chapter is its restoration by Acanthus Home, detailed under Condition & Restoration, in which the surface was renewed and the structure deliberately left untouched. Who made it, where, and for whom remain unrecorded. The record ends where the evidence ends.

Is this an antique or a vintage table? The table is catalogued as antique on the combined evidence of its early twentieth-century Golden Oak form and its documented 1920s retail history. The M. Friedman & Co. label and Post Street address establish where and within what period it was sold, but no surviving document fixes the exact year of manufacture or sale. Its date is therefore given as circa early twentieth century.

What was restored, and what is original? Restoration was confined to the finish. The surface was stripped and refinished to a lighter honey tone, and no structural alteration, replacement, or reconstruction is documented in the restoration record. The top, base, extension structure, and existing joinery were retained.

How does the extension work? The table takes three separate leaves, each 9⅛ inches wide. Closed, it sits as a 47-inch round; with all three leaves added it reaches about 74⅜ inches, while preserving the alignment and proportion of the top. The leaves are separate boards set in place when the table is opened, not panels concealed within the base.

Who made the table, and what is the label underneath? The maker is not recorded. The underside carries the retail label of M. Friedman & Co. of San Francisco, a furniture and carpet house that sold the table in the 1920s; a retailer's label names the store that sold a piece, not the workshop that built it. No maker's mark has been found. Two further ink stencils on the underside are partly legible and not yet transcribed.

Are the dining chairs included? No. This listing is the table alone. The chairs photographed alongside it are The Windward Dining Chairs, a set of six from the same collection, catalogued and sold separately. Either piece stands on its own, and together they form the dining set the collection is named for.