BY QUENTIN LEFRÈRE, PARIS, SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

细节

A Charles X ormolu-mounted marquetry billiard table
By Quentin Lefrère, Paris, Second quarter 19th Century
The rectangular top with green baize-lined surface, above a hollowed frieze with foliate paterae, one side with a cartouche inscribed Quentin Lefrere Rue de L'Isle 123, St. Quentin above a shaped lower part profusely inlaid with foliate marquetry, with giltmetal ball pockets, above six turned tapering legs each with giltmetal paw foot
34½ in. (88 cm.) high; 56½ in. (144 cm.) wide; 105 in. (266 cm.) long

来源

Christie's London, 30 May 1996, lot 78 (£9,775).

注意事项

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

拍品专文

A closely related billiard table, with very similar paterae mounts and hollowed frieze, is in the Château de Compiègne and is illustrated in N. de Reynies, Le Mobilier Domestique, Paris 1987, vol. I, p. 416, fig 1490.

Although billiard 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 made use 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.