I recently bought a round oak table. The top is made of one inch, large flake, quarter sawn lumber. On one side of the sliding mechanism for expanding the table size is a small brass plate with the following:

"Licensed under BROWN Patent no. 975,604 Nov. 15, 1910 other patents pending"

Stamped into the plate is the number "16279"

Can anyone tell me if BROWN was a furniture designer or a manufacturer? Where might I find out more about this peice of furniture?

There should be a way you could look up that patent number and find out a whole bunch of stuff.

Could you post pictures of the table? It sounds like a great table. I have not heard of Brown in A and C but there are a lot of experts on this forum. They might know more.

Bev.

You can view the patent at

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/0975604.pdf

The patent was for the opening mechanism:



...here's a 'pdf' file of the whole patent:

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/0975604.pdf

Stickley Bros. used this patent for their tables, but presumably other companies did as well..here's a tag from a Stickley Bros. table:



Are there any other marks at all, like a black stencilled number??? A picture of the whole table would really help.

Doh...Arthur (aclose) just beat me

The tag on the Stickley is the same as the one on my table. The only other marks on the underside of the table are black painted numbers 711-8 over the number 90. Stamped on the top of the pedestal base is the number 247 over the number 711. I will take some pictures tomorrow. Thanks for all the responses.

Here are some pictures of the table. Do you see anything that might indicate who the manufacturer was. Is this arts and crafts, or of that style/era? Any idea what the value might be? Thanks, Lee.

I don't think its Stickley Bros. based on the number and style. S. Bros used stencilled numbers, plus your numbers don't match the catalogs (at least the couple I have). Nonetheless its certainly from the same time period, and is what is generally just called 'Golden Oak'. As discussed in another message thread, the legs would need to be squared up instead of scrolled and curved to be Mission or A&C style. Its a great example of 1/4 cut wood though, excellent really, and this really gives it value. What's the diameter?? 48", 54" ? Bigger is better of course. Its going to be worth high hundreds to breaking a thousand based on what appears to be good condition and wood selection, I would say. If you have leaves, then even more.

It is 54", no leaves and has been refinished.

There is also a small red stick-on tag that I first thought was a household mover's tag. Now I am wondering if it is a manufacturer's label. The picture is blurred. (Best I could get with my camera.) It reads from top to bottom. Lot No., L26007. 086, PEICE NO.

Is this a manufacturer's label? Does anyone see anything about it that might identify a particular manufacturer.

Thanks for thoughts.

The tag is on the top of the pedestal. Here is the picture of the tage itself.

..not a tag I recognize..maybe its from an old auction because of the 'lot' number