Top tables...

I Blipped some Oriental table tops recently. Thought you might like to see another view alongside a marvellous old photo I was given by someone from South Shields who'd been to my house.

It shows an old lady sitting by the fireside knitting. It's a bright sunny day as the shutters (no curtains) are open. She may be relatively well off as she has a patterned carpet and her dog has a collar. Also the fire tools look upmarket. Why the photo was taken I have no clue but if it was a press photo it looks like a 'bad news' story - maybe a 'killed in service'?

There's a candle on a sideboard and that suggests to me that the pic was taken in the early 1900's. Electricity came to the town around 1910. One the side of the mantelpiece is a pic of her mother? and a man in uniform. Perhaps it's post the start of WW1?

The point of the comparison is to show an era when these tables were in general use and when I wonder what stories some of mine could tell it gives me some clues.