Lot Essay
A closely related billiard table, with very similar paterae mounts and hollowed frieze, is in the Chateau de Compiègne and is illustrated in N. de Reyniès Le Mobilier Domèstique, Paris 1987, vol. 1, p. 416, fig 1490.
Although billiards was probably played at the beginning of the 16th century, tables specifically made for this game only start appearing in inventories at the end of the 17th century. The earliest tables already made use of green cloth as a playing surface and had approximately the same rectangular shape as in the 19th century.
It is interesting that the present billiard table, which is of French origin, is in fact a 'billiard anglais', with six pockets, as opposed to the 'billiard français', without pockets, which requires a different skill.
Although billiards was probably played at the beginning of the 16th century, tables specifically made for this game only start appearing in inventories at the end of the 17th century. The earliest tables already made use of green cloth as a playing surface and had approximately the same rectangular shape as in the 19th century.
It is interesting that the present billiard table, which is of French origin, is in fact a 'billiard anglais', with six pockets, as opposed to the 'billiard français', without pockets, which requires a different skill.