bad pictures! LOL!

But from what I can see it's...or maybe was....a very nice Jacobean revival table.
I can't see any oval cut out....how big/ And what are the chairs like? they may be well worth repairing....the table looks to be.
Things that are un glued are an easy fix....bad finish? No problem! Broken wood...more difficult but often worth it.
More pictures please!

Please give at least approximate dimensions. Does it have leaves? If so, can you describe the type of apparatus used to suppost the table with their insertion. Ya either loves Jacobian revival or hate it. I side with the former. Why does the top of the table appear to be just an open frame? Yes, please, better pictures. When you say the 'silver cutout' is on the base of the table, I'm not following what you mean by base of the table.

Otto Jiranek was a furniture designer in Grand Rapids, Michigan around the turn of the 20th century. I believe he was Leo Jiranek's father. Leo is most known for his designs for Heywood-Wakefield.

I will have to post the pics one at a time. Sorry, I am new on here & unaware if there is a better way to post multiple pics at a time. This pic is of the silver plate. It is placed in one of the corners. The top of the table is detached from the table base. This plate does not appear to attach to the table top. I will post a pic following this of position of this plate, as well as other pics. There are 3 leaves. The dimension of the table with out the leaves inserted are as follows: 45" Wide x 59" Long x 32" High.

This is a pic of the table base without the top on it. Here you can see where the plate is located on the base. Again, we do not see anything on the table top that would hook into this plate. More pics to follow...

This is one of the chairs. They are filthy, but also cracked. We also only have 3 side chairs, and one chair is wider & appears to have been an arm chair without the arms. They are in rough shape, and not sure where I could find more like them to use with this set.

This is a side view of the table base without the top of it. This is a much better pic than the one originally posted. Sorry about that. :) More to come...

This is a side view of the table with the top resting on the base. More to come...

This is what is on the underneath of the table top, and concludes my pics. There is also a buffet, hutch, and what looks like a smaller version of the buffet. We could not get those today, and will have to go back when we have some men to help us. They are very heavy. I hope this gives everyone enough information. I really appreciate all of the input. :)

I think it's pretty much..."OMG!! Lucky you!!"
Can't explain the silver plaque...
The chairs don't seem to "match" the table, but they look like they are "of the period"....and you surely can find more "of the period" to use with it.

The latest pictures show the table to be nicer than I thought...:)...and I thought it was pretty darn nice.
Can't wait to see the pics of the rest of the set.

It is beautiful.....I agree the chairs don't seem integral to the set. I can't wait to see the rest of the suit, either. You'll be able to tell pretty quickly if they go with the set or not. This is the kind of stuff you couldn't give away twenty years ago, but I started accumulating it years ago, knowing it's time would come...........and it's arrived. Paoli is still in business, lucky you. They have a site online, and may be able to furnish you additional information if they've kept files of company history. If they haven't the genelogical or reference section of the library in their vicinity of manufacture often have material of interest about their products. I thought mid thirties when I saw this, and since they started operation in 1926, bet I'm not far off. My MIL had a similar set. I wish I had room for it when the estate was settled, but didn't and my parents had a set as well. It's my children's now.

Thank you very much for the input. I will definitely contact Paoli Furniture to see what I can find out. I will post pics of the other pieces once we can get them moved here to my home. They are very heavy, and we have to get some help. Thanks again. :)

That oval plate completely mystifies me. It is marked "Silver Radio" and has two coats of arms. There were table radios called Silver Radio back in the vacuum tube days and that oval plate reminds me of a switch plate for accessories, but why such a thing would be in that location is beyond me, perhaps a secret switch under the table; Operated a trap door? Alarm? Buzzed a door to open?

Maybe the silver plate is being used as a shim to keep an area level?

My husband said that the screws holding the plate in place appear to be period appropriate. I plan on calling Paoli Furniture to hopefully get some more answers. It is a wonderful mystery! :) This is my first set of antiques, and I have to admit that I am enjoying learning about all of this.

From experience, I've found that mail or email often works better than a call, because it's hard to get the call routed to the particular party who will do you the most good. My biggest success story so far in researching something precious was connecting to a winery/distillery in France and having the good fortune to talk to a direct descendant of the founder of the family business. A dear friend happened to have a bottle of brandy brought back to the U.S. by a serviceman in WWII and held for sixty years in a tontine. It was to be opened when there was but one survivor left of a group of friends. The label was crude and my friend doubted the authenticity of the contents, because it would be astronomically difficult to come by that vintage today. Well, turns out it was indeed authentic and the company doesn't even blend half-century old barrels of it anymore when bottling. He shared it with me for the effort. LOL. If this was your first acquisition, you done good. Your set is not quite 'antique' yet, but soon will be. If you have this good of an eye for other 'stuff' you pick up, then you shall probably have a lot of fun in the future. It's a life-long hobby and can be a decent financial investment if you are good at it.

Thanks Calliope! I did email the company & got an immediate response. I am going to paste the response below. I followed up with her via email and sent her pics to see if she could piece anything else together or point me in the right direction.

"Paoli Furniture made dining furniture in the 1920's. We do not, however, have any of those archives showing those. We have some brochures and prce lists but they start around 1940 and by then it was no longer a manufacturer of those items you possess.
I can only say it dates from the 1920's . How lucky are you....
Wish I could document more for you. I have been here since 1971 so it was even before my time...Even though I am one of very few employees
With this much time here."

Here is hoping that I can get more info! :)

Hurray! Good job! I have a collection of popular homemaker magazines from the late 1880s on, but not sure if my stack go as recent as mid 30s. I have found popular furniture brand advertisements in them and been able to document some styles to within a few years. I doubt I have the time to dig them out, however any time soon. They will not appear in my old cataloges. You can almost bet that the library local to that company has some reference material about Paoli, and sometimes you can connect to genealogists whose ancestors founded companies who have a lot of information on them. I think you have a really good handle on your items already, however even if you don't pursue it any farther. You know when it was made to within 10 years, and who made it, the style and it's more than most collectors know about their furniture finds.

You could post pictures on these forums:
www.radiomuseum.org/m/silver_usa_en_1.html or http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=118539
People might recognize that plate.

Is it possible that this is a marriage between a Paoli table top and the base of an old Siver Radio (McMurdo Silver)? Would this explain why top and base are not attached and the chairs to not relate to the base?

See these e-bay listings of old radio ads to see what I mean.

from e-bay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Silver-Marshall-R-Superheterodyne-Vintage-Flyer-/130406504754?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0amp;hash=item1e5cd55932

and:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1929-SILVER-RADIO-Highboy-Model-95-w-POLYMET-Condensers-AD-Pulling-Australia-/221122380239

Calliope - The HUGE bulbous things on the legs are a very good sign the table was made in the mid to late 1920s.

The trestle, the legs ... all Jacobean Revival traits.

In 1933 McMurdo Silver's radio manufacturing company, Silver-Marshall Inc., went bankrupt. However, that plate doesn't look anything like the nameplates I have seen.

Could it be what is left of a servant's call button? The hole in the middle could have held part of the apparatus. They were 12V systems, running on lead-acid batteries.

In smaller households, it was a 1-bell system with an inconspicuous wire that ran from the dining room to the kitchen, to indicate to the cook/maid that you were ready for the next course.

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the word "radio". After all, there was a sled named "Radio Flyer".

I think this sounds like a great explanation for that plate.

All the houses that I have known with a servant's call button were hard wired ...a button on the floor.
and that table isn't all that old...1920's at the oldest. not exactly the dark ages!

I'm thinking of something for retrofitting an older place that wasn't built with a hard-wired switch in the floor.

What puzzles me is that the plate looks like it would be covered up by the top of the table, but it's the right size hole to contain a rocker switch.

Maybe it was a remote (with wires) on/off switch for a radio?

Here is a collage of the original poster's picture along side the e-bay ad listing for Silver radio company. Notice the similarity. The company made the radio and would make a customized piece by putting the components into a cabinet that the customer chose.

here is the link again to the ad which is claimed to be 1929.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1929-SILVER-RADIO-Highboy-Model-95-w-POLYMET-Condensers-AD-Pulling-Australia-/221122380239

here's a match for the Silver Radio plate on a radio called Silver Marshal 30.

http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/v/Silver_Marshall/Silver_Marshall_30.jpg.html

Look at this group of Super Sleuths!!!! Found the company of the mystery placque and a photo of it placed on their radio! Tracked down Paoli Furniture to boot! This is an amazing website.

Gorgeous legs - just fantastic. Chairs that will go with the table are very easy to find and probably not expensive.

If it has not been refinished, there is a very nice wax-type of product that will refresh the finish with minimal effort. Used by antique stores who need to perk up newly arriving antiques.

Lakeone: it's a bit expensive but one bottle will do the table. Just shmear it on, let it sit for a while and wipe off. No need to buff. It will darken the finish a bit. Lasts about a year or more. Google it if you are interested. It is instant gratification!

Enjoy!!

So apparently the radio company built their radio into a table?

Because that's way larger then any of the cabinet radios I have seen.

That isn't a switch plate. It's where the dial was located,so you could see what frequency you were addressing. Where the plate is in the OP's picture would be under the table leaves. There is no reason to put it someplace like that. I suspect it's merely a shim, as Java and Jazz mentioned.

You are right ... there's no way that dial plate could have been readable in that spot.

I also vote for "shim" or "kid stuck it in there to hide the evidence after taking apart the family radio".

Thank you everyone for your input. I recently found out that I am pregnant, so as soon as I have the energy I am going to have someone come and take a closer look at the furniture. This plate has really baffled us as well. My husband wonders if they had a radio mounted under the table. I will keep you posted on anymore info we find out. I will also post pics of the other pieces once we have someone to help us move it. If anyone has suggestions on where I can look for chairs, please feel free to share. This is my first antique experience...and a very exciting one at that! :)

Congratulations! In a few years, the underside of that table will be a castle. Very cool!

Watch craigslist for the chairs (if you have an active one in your area).

Old thread, just wanted to add: There were radios built into tables, in particular the Atwater Kent 55 or 60 model built into a 6-sided table in about 1929 by Kiel furniture co. However the table had to have quite a bit of space (6") vertically inside to hold all the bulky electronics. I'm not sure how this one is put together but I doubt a radio of that era would fit under the average dining room table.

If they did, the controls would have been on the side or top, not underneath. The Atwater Kent had a small hinged door on one side that flipped down to reveal the tuning dial and knobs. What you have there is called an escutcheon or dial plate, btw. I'm thinking they used it to repair or shim something.

However if you find odd bolt holes that no longer hold anything, it's possible...

Otto Jiranek was Leo Jiranek's father. He died in 1926. Both Otto Jiranek and Leo Jiranek were furniture designers. Otto Jiranek immigrated from what was then Austria in 1926. First, Otto, and, then, Leo, designed furniture with radios built into the furniture. I purchased a bedroom set called the Jiranek Featurized Furniture Set that comes with a bed headboard with a radio built into it. This radio might be for general listening, however, I wonder if it was not tied into the house intercome system. This would seem to early for that sort of thing, the 1920s, but I saw the house Otto was building when he tragically died in a taxi accident in Chicago in 1926 and it had an intercom system in it. The house was located on Robinson Road in Grand Rapids Michigan.

That appears to be a standard AM radio with a wound field coil on the speaker. These could produce very pleasant sound. An interesting technique was employed for some AC powered radios. The speaker coil was part of the filter in the power supply. It may have had a second hum-bucking coil, a small winding on the speaker, in which the output of the power supply flowed through and opposed the ripple in the supply. Properly adjusted, it could nearly eliminate the characteristic hum heard in ac powered radios. If it has a hum-bucking coil, there will be at least 4 wires in the speaker cable. I'm guessing it was made in the 1930s.

The issue is why was the radio installed on the underside of the table? How would its user tune it in?