What is this Stickley dingus?

[Jamie Buxton]

I have a reprint of a 1910 catalog from Gustav Stickley. In it, there are several round tables with four legs, and a cross-shaped stretcher assembly connecting them -- for instance, catalog numbers 626, 633, 667, 669. All of them have a little vertical knob at the middle of the cross. What is it? Is it decoration? Is it some sort of functional part of the joinery?

Here's a photo from an auction site of an actual 667. You can see the dingus in it.

[Bob Lang]

It's a pin that secures the lapped joint between the stretchers. The top part is about 7/8" square with chamfered edges and a rounded end. Below that is a pin, 3/8" to 1/2" in diameter that fits in a hole drilled into the joint.

Bob Lang

[Jamie Buxton]

Thank you, Bob.