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Just bought this great old table from a local thrift store....motifs look late 18th to early 19th c. I could use some advice on restoring the table.

I am in the process of removing old paint and polyurthane that was put on during the 20th c.

The underlying wood on the table top is black with purple highlights (photo #2) - Zitan, right?

Wood used on legs and apron vary from a lighter color (photo #3) to the same black / purple as the table top.

Underside has extensive wood and metal supports that were added for stability, all of which looks to have been done in the 1800's. The table does not appear to need the supports - Should I just remove them and fill the screw holes? Or, leave them as evidence of the age of the table?

Center panel of the table top is missing. Is there any hope of acquiring a piece of Zitan to fill the table top, or should I simply replace with white & black marble?

Table measures 58" wide x 26" deep x 18" tall. Is this a KANG table, or some other style?

Thanks!

Zitan, possible but unlikely. The confusion arising from zitan generics imported into China from mid 19th, in fact even earlier as ballast (Dutch East India co) species Pterocarpus melanoxlon - East & Southern Africa. (blackwood) Post suez Pterocarpus soyauxii - trade name African zitan, West Africa. Both very similar & easily confused, similar specific gravity; similar even under a microscope, but there are a handful of scientists on planet earth that can draw the distinction. Pterocarpus santalinus from the Himalayan foothills is the only species that should be called Zitan, but even this statement subject to some debate. Dalbergia benthamii & Pterocarpus dalbergiodes have both been classified as zitan & held @ Chi Sung Kung for exclusive use of some 16th/17thC emperor's furniture. Nonetheless, P.san is the species that prior to these 17thC generics exclusively referred to as Zitan, as is clear as a result of Chi Bao's 3rd C publication 'Gu jiu Zhu' (an explanation of ancient & modern things)
Distinguishing feature of the one true species that can be classified as Zitan is the distinctive shimmering figure. Similar in many ways to the back of a fiddle. There are various grades, & this refers to how prominent the figure is. Third grade the figure virtually non-extant, but if you look very carefully at the grain of the timber all over the piece, it will be there somewhere. If it's not there, don't call it Zitan.

Concerning the restoration:
first establish if you have zitan. If you do, leave it alone.

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