One of the most used household items is, without doubt, the table. It is really very hard to say precisely when exactly tables appeared. But we can trace them a long way back in the Egyptian, Mesopotamian culture and then later among Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Early Medieval furniture.
A table is a piece of furniture, usually made of a top (a horizontal surface) supported by legs or a massive base. They are named according to the place they are meant for (garden, school, church, office, library, conference, kitchen, living room); their future use (massage, coffee, dining, cards, billiard, pool, poker, writing, computer); their form (folding, console, extension, nest); the place where they are located in the room (center, sofa, side), after the style or period they belong to (Gothic, Baroque, Rococo, Tudor, Ming, Renaissance, Early Colonial) and after the names of the designers who created distinctive types (Adam, Chippendale, Sheraton).
Today a table can practically have any size and shape (round, square, rectangular, etc). They can be made of wood (oak, cherry, pine, maple, mahogany, walnut, ash, etc), metal (aluminum, copper, iron), laminate plastic, glass and can have practically any color, not only those coming from the natural color of the wood, due to different types of finish (buttermilk, Water-based Polyurethane, Lacquer).
Mahogany table
A mahogany table is used, because it’s beautiful look, as a dining/coffee table or conference table. It is made of mahogany, a wood very much preferred by the furniture manufacturers because it is stable in use, can be worked easily and has a beautiful reddish sheen after it's polished.
Pool table
A pool table is a table that has 6 pockets and is used for pool games. Its top is usually green and made of wool, cotton or nylon. The table has different sizes (7, 8 or 9 feet) and is made of cherry, oak or maple wood.
Poker table
A poker table has an octagonal or elliptical shape. Usually it is large (it is normally made for 6 or 8 people). As manufacture materials there are cherry, oak or walnut. The table has a hardy, green surface made of green felt (green is the most common color, but others are also used navy, blue).
Mate tables
A table mate is a portable multi-functional table, used for dining, writing or playing cards. It is composed of a top made of metal or durable plastic, which can support up tol 50 pounds and is large enough for most activities (eating, writing, playing cards, holding a lamp or a telephone etc). It can be folded to an almost flat position and placed underneath the bed if you want to serve breakfast in bed the next day. It is easy to transport and set up.
Round tables
The legend says that the round table was created by King Arthur of Camelot in his desire to place all his knights on equal level so no one envied another. Because it has “no head” and “no sides” the round table can't create a privileged or a leading position. Everybody around this table has a good view of the others and the feeling that they are equally treated.
This type of table is commonly used for meetings, conferences and debates that concern different parties. One of the most famous modenr tables was the one used by the Polish Communist Government and the main Polish Union Trade federation, Solidarity, led by Lech Walesa. The talks held there were the beginnings of the Polish Communist Regime falling.
Because the round tables main purpose is to create the illusion of equality, today the term “round table” is used figuratively when one tries peacefully to find a compromise solution to a problem or situation.
