Q. I inherited a table which I can find no information on. Can you help me? The table is dark wood. It has three legs on a center shaft. The legs have carved britches, stockings and shoes. The top is inlaid with eight circles around the edge, each overlapping, each 5 1/2in in diameter and within each - a flower, like a four leaf clover. There is a rope design around each circle and everything is inlaid. The round top is 19in in diameter. The height of the table is 28in. Could you tell me the history and age?

A. Your table is an oddity known as an "Isle of Man" table. The Isle of Man is located in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland. It came under the English Crown in 1765, when it was purchased for 70,000 pounds. During much of the 18th century the island had two major industries, smuggling and shoe making. Tables with legs resembling human feet and clothing originated there as folk art.

It was not a form that caught on much with Colonial craftsmen and most examples found in the Colonies from the 18th century can be attributed to English and Irish workers. There are very few examples from the 19th century.

Yours appears to be a 20th century version from the Depression era of the 1930's or 1940's based on the construction of the top and the composition and arrangement of the turnings. The top appears to be veneered over a core of glued up solid boards with intervening layers of veneer - the lumber core plywood that is the building block of the first half of the 20th century. The inlaid top is a real work of art and is comprised of a number of woods including satinwood, figured maple, mahogany and perhaps walnut. 

Q. I found a very nice old drop front desk at a sale recently. It appears to be in very good condition except that it is painted a hideous yellow and the texture of the paint is very rough. I have refinished a number of pieces of furniture over the years so I am no rookie but this one has me stumped. I can't seem to get this paint to budge. I have tried every kind of stripper I own. I have even tried sanding it with an electric sander with no real results. I am thinking about using a belt sander on it. Do you have any idea what this finish is and how I might remove it? Thanks.

A. I think maybe you have stumbled across one of the finishing industry's most notorious experiments. It was generically called a "perma-finish" and was the result of so-called "space age technology" in the late 1950's and early 1960's. (It did not have anything to do with the modern metal and stone finish by the same name or the large powdercoating company in Arizona that also has that name.)

The finish of the 1950's was essentially a very durable, stable plastic coating that was sprayed on a piece of furniture. It is extremely resistant to almost any chemical as you have found out and sanding it is a waste of time. This irreversibility by itself is enough to drive collectors and restoration people crazy but there was something else even worse. The fad of the period was to remove the old finish by SANDBLASTING!!! if you can believe that. This produced the rough texture you see and feel on this drop front. On harder woods like maple and cherry the process just roughened up the wood's surface but on softer wood like pine or open grain wood like oak the blasting process produced deep gouges along the grain pattern, giving the look and texture of a very old, worn, weathered piece of wood.

Even if you could remove the perma-finish you still have to deal with the damage done to the wood itself. To make a long story short either just enjoy the piece as it is for what it is - an experimental aberration or paint it another color with an acrylic paint. 

Q. I have been finding conflicting definitions in the distinction between a fauteuil and a bergere. It has always been my understanding that a fauteuil is a French chair with open sides. Yet in a recently published book, "Paris Interior" by well known designer and author Herbert Ypma he says exactly the opposite. He says "..the fauteuil, an armchair with upholstered rather than open sides..". The Encarta English World dictionary simply refers to a "cane" chair. What do you think? "tiseye" via e-mail.    

A. Perhaps it was just a proofreading error. I would never contradict Mr.Ypma, who has many excellent design books to his credit and his series of  "Hip Hotels" books is outstanding. However, I will fall back on a source I have reliably used for many years, the venerable "Encyclopedia of Furniture" by Joseph Aronson (also coincidentally published by Crown), 1965. Mr. Aronson's definitions are as follows. "Bergere - Upholstered armchair with closed upholstered sides. Specifically, chairs of French style, copied in England and Germany. Also spelled birjair, barjair." and "Fauteuil - French upholstered armchair. The sides are open while the sides of the bergere are upholstered solidly." That works it for me.

Send your comments, questions and pictures to me at PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423 or fmtaylor@aol.com