Like its cousins the drawleaf and the dropleaf , the swivel-top is another clever way of increasing the size of a table when circumstances require it with the ability to return to a smaller footprint for regular use.  Here, the top is double-thick.  Each piece has a breadboard end and they are hinged together on the long side.  The bottom piece is attached to a cross member, so placed inside the base, between the long aprons, that the top pivots through 90 degrees and hits a stop,  unfolds on its hinges, and lays flat at double the size.  The aprons have a “floor” which provides a useful storage space for placemats and utensils etc.

This one is unusual in that the top board is made of oak while the bottom board is the traditional pine.  When opened the extended top is half pine and half oak.  This table has lovely turned legs, finished in a deep soldier blue, worn through in places.

40"x26.5"Wx32"H, 53"x40" open.

Hungary, circa 1925.