Boulle-style game table. France, Napoleonic III period, third quarter of the 19th century.

Boulle-style game table. France, Napoleonic III period, third quarter of the 19th century.
Ebonized wood, brass and tortoiseshell marquetry, and gilded bronze accents.
Tilting and swiveling top. Interior lined with fabric.
It has been refinished but requires restoration. Slight damage to the marquetry; the interior fabric lining is in poor condition.
Measurements: 76 × 84 × 45 cm (closed); 74 × 87 × 89 cm (open).

The table is a representative example of the historicist style developed by French cabinetmakers during the Second Empire, a period marked by a particularly intense revival of the sumptuous designs associated with the furniture of Louis XIV’s court. Boulle marquetry, associated with the famous cabinetmaker André-Charles Boulle, combines cut-out strips of tortoiseshell and metal to create complex arabesques and plant motifs with intense chromatic hallmarks.

The design is characteristic of the convertible game tables produced in France during the third quarter of the 19th century: the mixtilinear tabletop rotates and unfolds to form a larger surface, while the structure is embellished with sinuous aprons, cabriole legs, and gilded mounts in the Rococo style.

The decoration extends across the tabletop, the apron, and the legs, featuring vegetal scrollwork on reddish and black backgrounds and accented by gilded bronze profiles and inlays. The piece fully preserves the ornamental program and architectural features characteristic of a type of furniture particularly prized for its dual role as both a functional piece and a representative salon piece.