This table is closely based on a design for a 'Universal Table' dated 1791 and published in Thomas Sheraton's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing-Book, London, 3rd ed., 1802, pl.25. In his description, Sheraton writes: 'The use of this piece is both to answer the purpose of a breakfast and a dining-table. When both the leaves are slipped under the bed, it will then serve as a breakfast-table; when one leaf is out, as in this view, it will accommodate five persons as a dining-table; and if both are out, it will admit of eight, being near seven feet long, and three feet six inches in width'.