Thurston full size table - How old ??

[gwyndaf]

I have just bought a full size snooker table which appears to be made by Thurston.
Although not vitally important, it would be interesting to find out its age.
I have contacted Thurston and they said they would gladly help, at a cost of £117.50 including VAT which seems quite steep to me.
If anyone can help with any information whatsoever I would be very grateful.
The Table Number is 5944 which is stamped on most of the timber parts.
Thanks

[ADR147]

do you have a photo of the table.

[Semih_Sayginer]

do you have a photo of the table.

also a pic or two of the stamped areas

[100-uper]

Thurston's (Clare's) are the only people who will be able to relate this serial number to a precise date of manufacture as they hold the stock books. I can imagine that they get quite a few of this type of enquiry so don't blame them for making a standard charge for someone to pull these books out of the archive and go through them.

However, if you can provide a photo of the maker's plate I can tell you to the nearest decade when it was made. Whether the table to which it is attached is from the same date is another question, but if you can also provide a photo of the leg and cushion arrangement I may be able to hazard an opinion of whether they belong together.

[gwyndaf]

Thurston full size table-How old??

Thank you for all the replies and apologies for delay in supplying photos.
I understand from the woman who sold me the table that she thinks the table is at least 30 years old but that is all the information she had.
I attach the two photos in the hope that someone can give me some more information. The table number is 5944 which is stamped on all legs and timbers other than the support timbers under the slates, which are marked with roman numerals which I assume are for correct assembly.
Thank you all again in advance.

[100-uper]

The table plate was produced between 1896 and 1901.

[gwyndaf]

Thank you very much for your reply.
When I contacted Thurston they said that the serial number indicated that it was a very old table.
I do understand that they have to make a charge for providing such a service and now I may contact them again for more information.
However my initial reaction on the amount charged was that it would exceed the price of £112 that I paid for the table, including light, balls, cues etc. and thought they may have the information easily to hand, maybe on a computer database.
Thank you again for your time in replying.

[ADR147]

The table plate was produced between 1896 and 1901.

now that is precise! you have some records i assume! - i would have guessed 1900 but i think 100uppers answer is superb!

[garysnooker]

i agree 100uppers does know his stuff when it comes to snooker table

[garysnooker]

i wonder if he could date my one early 80s i think
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v2dQfwYIAw

[100-uper]

now that is precise! you have some records i assume! - i would have guessed 1900 but i think 100uppers answer is superb!

I can't claim any special knowledge for this one. Thurstons become a Limited company in 1896 and in addition to mentioning "Ltd" the plate carries the crests of both Victoria and Edward when he was Prince of Wales. Edward became King in 1901 so the plate wouldn't have been made later than this under the terms of the Royal warrant. The "Perfect Low Cushion" was introduced much earlier (1884) and continued right through to the First World War, so dating from this information alone would have given a much wider spread.

You will still need to check the frame number to make sure that it belongs with the cushions.

[ADR147]

I can't claim any special knowledge for this one. Thurstons become a Limited company in 1896 and in addition to mentioning "Ltd" the plate carries the crests of both Victoria and Edward when he was Prince of Wales. Edward became King in 1901 so the plate wouldn't have been made later than this under the terms of the Royal warrant. The "Perfect Low Cushion" was introduced much earlier (1884) and continued right through to the First World War, so dating from this information alone would have given a much wider spread.

You will still need to check the frame number to make sure that it belongs with the cushions.

now i should have worked that out, i am slipping in my old age.

[wakers]

tableplate.jpg

any chance you can date my table please roughly thanks

[100-uper]

Same dates, same reasons.

It might be interesting to note that this plate mentions that Thurston’s were established in 1814. In fact all their equipment prior to 1908 uses this date and it is another useful marker for dating Thurston’s tables and scoreboards. In 1908 they decided to take into account the full work experience of John Thurston and calculated a new start date of 1799. They have used the earlier date ever since.

[wakers]

Hi thanks for that ! the number on all the legs is 8790 and if i remember correctly the cushions also
regards Mark