Antique Wallpaper Table Legs

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Ya’ll know I am on the hunt for an old rocking horse, right? Well, two weekends ago at the McKinney Trade Days Flea Market I spotted the perfect rocking horse in a vendor’s booth.  I made a beeline to the booth, but unfortunately, I was too late.  Another lady literally had just bought the horse.  She took my business card and said she would call me if she ever decided to sell it . . . I’m not holding my breath though 🙂

I started chatting with the dealer as a way to work through my raw nerves, asking him about some other items in his booth.  That’s when I spotted this set of old wooden, hinged “things” propped up in the corner.

I was guessing they were maybe old surveyor’s tools, but when I asked him about their history he told me they were actually a pair of antique wallpaper hangers (he then quickly proceeded to tell a joke about a one-armed paper hanger).  At $12 a piece, I thought they were a good buy, so I took them home instead of the horse.

I’ve been playing around with them some here at home, and also doing some research online.  Looks like his story was maybe half-way correct.

These are antique wallpaper hanging tools, but I believe they were actually once part of a larger folding wallpaper table.  According the dealer, the paperman would hang the paper over the top extended piece . . . from what I have seen online though, these two pieces would actually have a large wooden piece stretched between them and they would function as table legs.

via 1stdibs.com

This is an example of a full table that was for sale on 1stdibs.com.  My legs aren’t exactly like this, but you can get the idea.  Doesn’t it have an amazing, industrial chic look?

I really like the old wood patina of these pieces.

I’m sure their engineering isn’t very complicated, but my simple mind is quite impressed with all their hinges and how they fold.

This hook and set of slots allows you to adjust their height.

They were just something totally unique, different than anything else I have ever found at a market.  I love when I come across an item like that; makes me feel like I’ve won the lottery.

Eclectically Vintage wrote a great post about an antique wallpaper table she found.

Eclectically Vintage

If you click on the picture, you can see more of her post and more images of her beautiful table.

I’m not quite sure yet if I will keep or sell my wallpaper table legs . . . My husband recently said he would like to makeover his office in a vintage industrial look, and these would be perfect legs for a desk.  There is a pair that looks pretty much the same as mine for sale though on Houzz.com for $225, so it might be worth selling them also!

Either way, finding the legs helped make up for losing the horse.

What do you think about them?