Now donated to A Midlands School and Church small break holiday meeting centre Charity
Who are very grateful for the table and will put it into use at the centre .
Very rare to find one as good condition as this in OAK , most are Mahogany
I would say only 10% where made in Oak .
With a very good well known billiards firm of Thurston’s manufacture .
one of the best and still surviving Billiards firms that was founded in 1799 .
This one is one of the original 4 piece 1 inch thick slate bed type which dates this table to around the 1880s period .
maybe the back end of 1870s ?
BUT the royal warrant of Queen Victoria was first used as on the ivory cushion badge of this table in 1837
So it could have been made as early as that date . but I think back then it would have been three section slate beds and not four like this one so my dating is from the 1870 / 1880 period .
circa period of 1870s where Horse and carts back then to transport tables so slate was not as thick as todays tables which came about later on in the 1890s as motorised transport came along , but they did put extra muntin slate supports in the thinner slate beds to stop any distortion or slate sagging this tbale has 6 slate support muntin’s , modern tables only have three . , this table is ideal if you have not got a solid floor , as you can have problems with heavy slate bed tables on wood floors .
Also good for getting upstairs , as much thicker slate bed tables will press down on upper timber floors and you get levelling problems on beamed floors that are upstairs with thicker slate beds .
The table belonged to a family member who has passed on and was put into Storage in Nottingham when the estate was sold on , the family would now like to see the table put into some use , it was never going to be sold as they had plans to re-use it at a later date , and now because they moved to live in Australia , it has to be sold on as the cost for shipping over there is a no go .
We are looking for offers for this table .
, REMEMBER RARE OAK ONE , NOT ONE OF THE HUNDREDS OF MAHOGANY ONES BEING SOLD .
To make a table like this today in solid oak you would be ,looking in excess of £12000 upwards .
We will entertain all offers and put this to the family .
But please note you do not come across table in this condition that has been professionally dismantled and stored in nice dry conditions no damp garage as many are stored in , the removal’s firm that stored it have a very good reputation for looking after Antiques and Billiard / Snooker tables and even Grand pianos , and together with TWO professional time served billiards fitters this was carefully dismantled and blanket wrapped and transported with care into storage .
Sorry we have no full photos of the table set up , only in dismantled and stored form of which I pulled a leg out for reference and one end cushion .
I will ask around my fellow billiard fitters to see if they have one of the same design as a library photo to use all though they may show that in mahogany rather than oak like my selling clients table for sale here .
** There is also a fibre glass lighting shade with the table .
And some long rest tackle .
** THERE IS NO SCOREBOARD WITH THE TABLE
Please study the following photos , taken today in the storage locker , which is in Nottingham .
We can arrange at extra cost for the table to be delivered and dropped off in kit form to a ground floor , quote based on distance and if possible .
We can also arrange at extra cost to have the table set back up , with refitted bed cloth or complete re-cloth .
Again costing based on distance . but we do have a list of fitters based around the country too if GCL Billiards cannot do the work .
*** PLEASE NOTE …The price is for the table only as described collected , any other mention of delivery and set up and re-clothing if requires is based on extra costings .
You do not have to use GCL Billiards …you are free to choose and use any billiard fitting and delivery firm in the country .
All the history of Thurston’s can be read from this excellent archive compiled by billiard Historian Peter Ainsworth and the E A Clare Billiard’s of Liverpool who now own Thurston’s .
https://snookerheritage.co.uk/articles/thurston-co/
above is an original advert during Queen Victoria’s reign
the table I would say is this design . photo kindly supplied by John Bennet Billiards ltd
Above is a mahogany one that is due renovation , photo by John Bennet Billiards ltd .
This is the same design but the oak one is in very good condition polish wise .
A mahogany Thurston no5 design flute turned leg in mahogany , John Bennett Billiards ltd supplied photo as an example of the same in oak .
