Baker Campaign End Tables

Sometimes called “knock-down” furniture, campaign furniture was designed to be folded, collapsed, taken apart and packed flat to load onto a ship or a camel’s back. Although mobile furniture for military campaigns dates back to the Romans, the British Army in its global conquests in the 18th and 19th centuries defined the style with sturdy and elegant pieces. Even in a tent thousands of miles from London, a four-poster bed, dining table and seating could simulate the comforts of home.

Antique and vintage campaign-style furniture was also initially designed as propaganda. The mahogany and teak structures were part of a purposeful demonstration of power in these campaigns, with the colonizing military officers imposing their culture and view of what they considered “civilized” on a given land and its peoples. Designers and manufacturers including Thomas Butler, Ross & Co. of Dublin, and Morgan & Sanders contributed to the rapid production of this furniture as the British Empire expanded through Africa, Asia and Australia.

Campaign furniture was utilitarian as well as refined, fitted with recessed brass handles and brass angles on stackable chests and other case pieces to protect vulnerable corners. The Wellington chest was one of the most famous pieces to come out of this style, named for the Duke of Wellington, who slept in his campaign bed long after his battles were over.

The flexibility of campaign-style furniture would influence 20th-century Scandinavian modernists such as Kaare Klint, Mogens Koch and Arne Norell. For his 1930s Safari chair, Klint drew on the simple Roorkhee chair, named for a town in northern India. The lightweight and adaptable campaign-style seat was created in the late 19th century and had no fixed joinery. The Roorkhee’s influence can also be seen in the Wassily chair, a pared-down work of tubular metal and durable canvas conceived by legendary Bauhaus instructor Marcel Breuer.

Now, 21st-century designers like Jomo Tariku and Dokter and Misses are creating pieces that recognize the contributions of African artisans to campaign furniture in order to reframe this style without overlooking its difficult past.

Find a collection of authentic antique and vintage campaign bedroom furniture, chairs, decorative objects and other pieces on 1stDibs.

Beyond just providing additional tabletop space for your living room, an attractive vintage end table can help you organize as well as display books and decorative objects.

The term “end table” is frequently used interchangeably with “coffee table,” and while these two furnishings have much in common, each offers their own distinctive benefits in your space.

Your end table is likely going to stand as tall as the arms of your sofa, and its depth will match the seating. These attributes allow for tucking the table neatly at the end of your sofa in order to provide an elevated surface between your seating and the wall. End tables are accent pieces — they’re a close cousin to side tables, but side tables, not unlike the show-stealing low-profile coffee table, are intended to be positioned prominently and have more to do with the flow and design of a room than an end table, which does a great job but does it out of the way of everything else.

End tables with a drawer or a shelf can easily stow away books or television remotes. Living-room end tables frequently assist with lighting, specifically as they’re often positioned adjacent to a wall. Their height and compact tabletop render them ideal for table lamps and plants, particularly if parked near a window.

And given their practicality, there is no shortage of simple, streamlined end tables from mid-century modern favorites such as Baker Furniture Company, Dunbar and Knoll that will serve your clutter-clearing minimalist efforts or wide-open loft space well. But over the years, furniture designers have taken to venturesome experimentation, crafting tables from fallen trees, introducing organic shapes and playing with sculptural forms, so much so that your understated end table might eventually become the centerpiece of a room, no matter where you choose to place it. One-of-a-kind contemporary designs prove that there are endless options for what an end table can be, while furniture makers working in the Art Deco style have proven that end tables can be stacked, staggered and nested at will, creating all kinds of variations on this popular home accent.

Find an extraordinary variety of antique, new and vintage end tables on 1stDibs today.