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Belter made both closed carved and pierced carved parlor tables. Some Belter parlor tables are very simple in their design and execution while other are very complex . Like his seating furniture, Belter parlor tables present a certain general appearance that is an important first step in the identification process. After you have seen a few Belter tables you begin to realize they just "look" a little different from most tables by other makers. If a table has the look, the next step is to inspect construction and design details to determine if it is indeed a Belter table.

The aprons of all the pierced carved Belter parlor tables I have seen have been made of laminated rosewood, and the apron frames of closed carved parlor tables are made up of several layers of wood glued together and then cut out on a band saw and veneered with rosewood on the finish side. The laminations on pierced carved table aprons are about 1/16 inch thick, the same as on seating furniture. Most, if not all, of these tables had marble tops when new. Most, if not all, of these original marble tops were made of white marble. Belter parlor tables are not pattern specific. That is to say, there is no evidence Belter built one design of table to match Rosalie pattern, another design of table to match Fountain Elms pattern, another design of table to match Cornucopia pattern, and so on. Belter made parlor tables in many sizes, shapes and designs, and Belter tables are not typically large, as Victorian tables go. There are several different groups of Belter tables and the tables within each group are very similar in design, size, shape and construction, but the carved decorations on these tables can vary substantially. In contrast to parlor seating furniture where nearly identical pieces were turned out over and over again, allowing us to identify specific "patterns", Belter parlor tables appear to be almost custom designed and made.

Despite the lack of patterns to guide you there are construction details that will help you identify a parlor table as having been made by John Henry Belter.

Belter parlor tables have five basic components. These components are the top, the apron, the legs, the stretchers, and the basket or finial where the stretchers cross.

If the table you are identifying has a closed carved apron, the next step is to look at the inside of the apron frame. The easiest way to do this is by removing the marble top. As you look down on the inside of the apron you will notice several horizontal lines that run all the way around the frame. These lines are seams where the individual pieces of wood were stacked up and glued together. These closed carved frames are laminated, but in a different way and with much thicker wood than in a laminated chair back, and they are cut into shape with a saw instead of being molded in a caul. The finish side of a closed carved Belter parlor table apron usually has two layers of rosewood veneer. The inside veneer is vertical and the outside veneer is horizontal.

Every closed carved Belter parlor table apron I have seen has had some carving on it, usually stylized foliage and naturalistic flowers.

If the table you are identifying has a pierced carved apron the inside top of the apron will have a narrow solid wood frame that adds strength and continuity to the apron, and probably works to prevent uneven warping between the four separately made but joined laminated aprons. Pierced carved Belter parlor table aprons are usually decorated with scolling vines, foliage, flowers, grapes and acorns. The middle of each apron has a cartouche, normally carved with a bouquet of flowers, foliage and grapes, but sometimes carved with human portrait busts.

Starting at the top and working down, the remaining construction details apply to both closed carved and pierced carved Belter parlor tables.

Most cabinet makers and manufacturers attached their legs to the table aprons with dowels between the sides of the aprons and the sides of legs. In this method of joining, the legs extend through, and are joined to the sides of the aprons, and the top rests on both the legs and the aprons. Belter parlor tables are not made this way.

In a typical Belter parlor table the four corners of the apron are joined together first, to make a frame, or platform, then the legs are attached to the bottom and/or sides of the aprons. The marble top of a Belter table is supported only on the apron, and the apron platform is supported by the leg/stretcher assembly. Carved decoration often covers the joints where the apron meets the legs on a Belter parlor table.

The stretchers of a belter parlor table have a serpentine shape and are made of four separate pieces of solid wood, not laminated wood. Each stretcher is joined to a table leg on one end and to a central basket on the other end. The central basket on a Belter parlor table will usually be filled with flowers, foliage, fruit and vegetables. Some of Belter's most basic parlor tables have a carved finial above a rather plain plinth at the center of their stretchers, instead of a flower and fruit basket. All Belter parlor tables I have seen have a downward facing finial at the center of the stretchers, under the basket or the plinth.

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