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Lot Essay
Such elegant tables à jeux exemplify the passion for games of all types in 18th century France. It was the main indoor pastime of Louis XV's court. The duc de Luynes, chronicler of daily life at Court, would actually record the rare days when the King did not play.
The games featured here, played by members of the Court and of the privileged aristocracy, provide a fascinating insight into mid-18th century French society. The livre-journal of the celebrated marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux records numerous games-tables sold between 1748 and 1758, designed for particular games such as piquet, brelan, quadrille and tric-trac.
Related tables include that by Guillaume Kemp in the collection of the Marquess of Bath at Longleat house, Wiltshire; while another was sold Christie's Monaco, 5 December 1992, lot 75 (illustrated in N. de Reyniès, Le Mobilier Domestique, Paris, 1987, p. 393, fig. 1411).
The games featured here, played by members of the Court and of the privileged aristocracy, provide a fascinating insight into mid-18th century French society. The livre-journal of the celebrated marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux records numerous games-tables sold between 1748 and 1758, designed for particular games such as piquet, brelan, quadrille and tric-trac.
Related tables include that by Guillaume Kemp in the collection of the Marquess of Bath at Longleat house, Wiltshire; while another was sold Christie's Monaco, 5 December 1992, lot 75 (illustrated in N. de Reyniès, Le Mobilier Domestique, Paris, 1987, p. 393, fig. 1411).