A coffee table is a low table designed to be placed in a sitting area for convenient support of

beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothie ...

remote control A remote control, also known colloquially as a remote or clicker, is an consumer electronics, electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operat ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

s (especially large, illustrated

coffee table book A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and which can serve to inspire conversation o ...

s), decorative objects, and other small items. Most coffee tables are made of wood (though faux wood tables are increasingly common) or glass and metal, typically

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

, and may incorporate cabinets or drawers. Coffee tables were thought to initially be constructed in Renaissance England.

Origins

In Europe, the first tables specifically designed as and called coffee tables, appear to have been made in Britain during the late

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. According to the listing in ''Victorian Furniture'' by R. W. Symonds & B. B. Whineray and also in ''The Country Life Book of English Furniture'' by Edward T. Joy, a table designed by E. W. Godwin in 1868 and made in large numbers by William Watt, and Collinson and Lock, is a coffee table. If this is correct, it may be one of the earliest made in Europe. Other sources list it only as a "table", so this can not be stated categorically. Far from being a low table, this table was about twenty-seven inches high. Later coffee tables were designed as low tables, similar to ones used in tea houses. As the Anglo-Japanese style was popular in Britain throughout the 1870s and 1880s, and low tables were common in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, this seems to be a likely source for the concept of a long low table. From the late 19th century onward, many coffee tables were subsequently made in earlier styles due to the popularity of revivalism, so it is quite possible to find Louis XVI-style coffee tables or Georgian-style coffee tables, but there seems to be no evidence of a table actually made as a coffee table before this time. Joseph Aronson in 1938 defined a coffee table as a "low wide table now used before a sofa or couch", adding "there is no historical precedent", perhaps suggesting they came late in the history of furniture. With the increasing availability of television sets from the 1950s onward, coffee tables came into their own, since they are low enough, even with cups and glasses on them, not to obstruct the view of the TV.

References

{{reflist Tables (furniture)

Origins

See also

References