Looking for information on cast iron(?) table w/cherub(?) face legs

I think spell check did that - couldn't be me! lol

 

Thank you cxgirl!

 

The reason I asked about the metal colour is because I suspect it's spelter. These often are. I think yours is an older copy, maybe 60s ish. The newer ones look more hollowed out and less well moulded.

 

I highly doubt this is spelter - cast spelter is too weak. Or at least I’ve always called this crappy repro stuff cast aluminum, though never tested it. Do you know spelter was used for sure?

There were a lot of crappy copies of turn of the century cast iron outdoor furniture being made and sold in the US in the 80s/90s in cast aluminum. Lillian Vernon type stuff, park benches, tables, etc. Aluminum was not expensive at the time, and much cheaper to cast than iron which is why it was used for these low rent copies. The market didn’t last that long, because the cast aluminum, though stronger than spelter, wasn’t strong enough to put up with abuse outdoor furniture is subjected to.

 

Spelter type alloys is probably a better term. It's the heaviness of this that makes me think not aluminium. That, and the lack of damage.

 

There is a LOT less stress on a small table compared to a bench/chair. I’m not surprised an aluminum table would survive without damage, especially one that looks to have been kept indoors. Chairs sometimes survive even after 40 years outside if the bolts have been replaced with brass - it is the steel bolts that tend to rust and fail since these were put together with cheap steel fasteners when first put together.

Heavy is relative - cast aluminum needs to be thick to get any durability at all, so it seems heavy compared to the later extruded aluminum that can be much thinner and lighter. Without measuring specific gravity (density) “heavy” is a pretty meaningless term.

 

Fair point. I'm going on having hefted both aluminium ones and alloy ones round a fair few places!