BH | Premier Chiswick Sunburst Jupe Dining Table — In Chestnut

In the 1720s Lord Burlington built Chiswick House as a villa for entertaining, and the Georgian houses that grew up around it kept the habit: dinner for four, then six, and whoever else could be fitted in. This round table is made for that kind of hospitality. Closed, it is a neat round for a small supper, and when more guests are coming it opens to seat six, with everyone still facing the centre and no one left at a corner.

It is a Jupe table, a round table whose top divides and slides apart so leaves can drop in between, and the leaves live inside the table when not in use. It opens on an extruded aluminum mechanism made for smooth, easy opening. The veneered top is laid in a sunburst, its grain radiating from the centre, and it stands on a faceted pedestal built from many panels and finished with a brass-capped foot. It arrives in two boxes and needs assembly.

Place it in a dining room or a sunroom under a pendant with a bowl of fruit at its heart, and draw it open the night six are coming for a birthday dinner, with candles and the good china out. This listing is for one dining table.