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Lot Essay
Games tables of this form were introduced early in the 18th century, and Adam Bowett suggests that half-round tables of this type were, at the time, a true innovation, for while card games had been a popular pastime since the 1660s, there appear to have been no tables specifically designed for the purpose. The prototype may have been a French table, since a drawing of circa 1700 depicts a circular table with pillar legs that belonged to the Dauphin. The presence of three drawers in the frieze suggests that the tables were intended for the game of Ombre, a three-handed card game fashionable at the time (A. Bowett, English Furniture 1660 – 1714 From Charles II to Queen Anne, Woodbridge, 2002, pp. 289 – 293).
Closely related tables are illustrated including a japanned table with a virtually identical frieze pattern (ibid, pp. 292 – 293, pl. 9.37 and 9.38). Another is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum ( R. Edwards & P. Macquoid, Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1954, vol. III, p. 194, fig. 5).
Closely related tables are illustrated including a japanned table with a virtually identical frieze pattern (ibid, pp. 292 – 293, pl. 9.37 and 9.38). Another is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum ( R. Edwards & P. Macquoid, Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1954, vol. III, p. 194, fig. 5).