Q: I have had this table for a little while. It is about 13 inches high and 40 inches long. The leather pads are in good shape, the gateleg works fine. One caster has been replaced. An auction house had a big one, no pads, and called it a Kittinger desk. Even the legs and drawer were just like this. So the big question - what is it and what is it worth?

A: Your table is a reproduction of a late 18th century drinking table originally reproduced by Baker Furniture in the 1930s. You can see the coffee table size, which is 16 inches high in the book Fine Furniture Reproductions, 18th Century Revival of the 1930s and 1940s from Baker Furniture published by Schiffer. Your table is too low for a coffee table so it probably was designed as a magazine table. Your unusual size table would probably sell at auction in the $300 range.

Q: Are there any current manufacturers you could recommend who sell quality barrister bookcases?

A: Most of the recently produced bookcases I have seen are less than high quality. I do not know of anyone making really good ones that compare to the originals. You would be better off going to an auction and buying an original set of Globe-Wernicke or Macey stacking bookcases and having them restored. At least when you are done you will have something. When you buy most of the new stuff you end up with nothing. Good luck.

Q: I would appreciate your opinion on the value of a chair I own that has a round metal plate attached that reads “Handmade Tobey Furniture Established 1856 Chicago.” It appears to be a chair from a dining set. I have attached pictures for your review. Please note that the chair has #3 on it as does the wood seat frame, which has obviously been recovered. Also, note that the seat frame attaches to the chair using a peg (chair) and hole (frame). Any information you provide will be greatly appreciated.

A: Tobey Furniture is one of the most famous names in American history. Charles Tobey opened his business in Chicago in 1856. In the late 19th century the company outfitted many of the best hotels in the Midwest as both a retailer and a manufacturer. He introduced his Mission line in 1900 designed and built by an employee, George Clingman. Late that year he carried a line of furniture called the “New Furniture” by the then unknown craftsman Gustav Stickley who made Mission style furniture famous.

Your chair is a Colonial Revival reproduction of an Empire klismos chair of the early 19th century.

It is made of mahogany and appears to have been painted at one time, then stripped and bleached. The “handmade” label was established in 1898 and used for all lines after that. The peg arrangement of the seat was used on similar chairs in the Empire period of the 1820s and was used for the next 100 years. Tobey used many such features to bolster his “handmade” image. Your chair could have been made anytime from around 1900 to the mid 1920s when Tobey moved on to the French Art Moderne styles or it could have been made after that in the 1940s.

Since your chair has been through some drastic changes since its manufacture, the original collector’s value is pretty much gone. The value is as a chair bearing a famous label. It would probably sell at auction in the range of $50.

Q: I would appreciate receiving any information you can give me on the piece of furniture in these pictures.

A: Your library table was made by Kiel Furniture Co. of Milwaukee. Kiel made only tables. Your table, as were almost all Kiel tables, is made primarily of red gum, the universal secondary wood of the first half of the 20th century. It has been stained to look like walnut.

The top may be walnut veneer but I could not tell from the photos. Kiel also had a finish they called their “Badger” finish which was a faux finish on gum that could be made to look like walnut or mahogany.

Your table was built in the mid-to-late 1920s. In excellent condition the table would sell for around $200 at auction, but your table has some serious condition issues that would detract from the sale price.