George Nelson 'Gate Leg' dining table  

This table was one of their most popular
from the 1946-47 Basic Cabinet Group. It was carefully designed to fold down and fit next to many of the basic cabinets. I believe it was in production for more than 20 years. It was definitive for a good sized apartment or small house...or for anyone who wasn't using their dining room area as a formal dining room. All you had to do was to move the table into the center and open it up.
It was a revolutionary concept at the time and was one of the last of the original 1946-47 products to be discontinued.

Whilst
it's a neat design (I really like the 'knuckle' joints) it's hardly a 'revolutionary concept'- gateleg tables had been around long before this one..in fact since the Sixteenth century in England.

Robert; what made it revolutionary
and very popular was the idea that folded up and against the wall, it matched the depth of most of the Basic Storage cabinets. Look at the 1st edition of the Nelson/Herman Miller catalog (1950) and here's what is says:
4656; One of the most painstakingly designed of all the pieces in the entire Herman Miller collection is this simple gateleg table. To eliminate the usual dropped edge that appears when the leaves are down, a special wood hinge was worked out. Instead of one gateleg on a side, there are two, giving much added stability. The table matches the 24 x 34 cases exactly and may be lined up with them. Fully extended it seats eight generously.

I've
never seen that before. Perhaps the most Scandinavian-looking of all Nelson pieces ?
Note that the open position creates an asymmetrical leg array. By odd coincidence I've lately been exploring the possibilities of just such an arrangement in gateleg tables of my own design. The issue arises when one tries to arrange two, four, six or eight diners among the legs of a single rectangular table. Sometimes one would like to have a sitter centered on the long side of the table (when seating two, or eight), and at other times a pair of chairs needs to be centered there (for four, or six). Thus, what to do with the legs (or leg panels) ? I'm playing with gate legs that can be swung at will to accommodate both conditions.
Has anybody explored this problem ?

I always had
trouble selling square and rectangular gateleg tables for just that reason. Somebody was always forced to straddle the legs. The only ones that this didn't happen on were the William and Mary style gatelegs with the oval tops. The extended legs didn't reach anywhere near the edge of the oval so people's legs could easily fit in front of it.

It's obvious that this beautiful table
was primarily designed for 4 to 6 people, but could handle 8 when entertaining. If one had a family that size back then, they would've probably selected a stationery large table, rather than one that folded like a Gateleg.

Revolutionary? Perhaps not
Heywood Wakefield and Conant Ball, among others, had similar folding, gatelegged tables in the 30's. Here's one from 1947 that goes for a song on ebay that I like quite a bit better that the subject table. Solid wood too.
Another interesting table on ebay now. A folding gate legged that goes from a 20 inch console to a 76 inch table for six with three extra leaves and two extra legs folding down from underneath!. It's a remarkable bit of table leg technology.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&i...

Maria table
We have a Bruno Mathsson "Maria" table. It folds down to 9 inches and extends out to 9 feet. We use a set of 10 stacking Aalto chairs to go around it. It's perfect when you want to host a big dinner and when you are not using it, it easily stows away. The legs are not obtrusive in any of the assorted configurations you can set it up in. Great piece of engineering.

Since this looks to be the default gateleg table thread . . .
. . . yesterday I just picked up a pair of Bendt Winge teak gateleg tables off of CL. The tables tops need a little love, but it looks like the usual Howard's treatment should do the trick.
What I particularly like about this design is that the tables are designed to lock together. This allows for numerous config options, from unobtrusive separate side shelving when not in use, to a 118" long banquet table when needed for large parties. Unfortunately, I have no empty grand hall at home to take advantage of the latter option.
I did not have time to photograph last night after getting them home, so have posted a few 1stDibs photos that do a good job of showing some combo options. I'm looking forward to re-conditioning the finish of mine to hopefully look like these photos.