LOUIS XVI ERA MECHANICAL GAME TABLE By David Roentgen, circa 1780
In mahogany and speckled mahogany veneer, decorated with chased and gilded bronze, with three successive folding trays, the first one lined with green felt, the second one centered with a checkerboard in ebony and lemon tree marquetry, the third one lined with green leather revealing a retractable tric-trac box, a desk and two sliding side compartments, resting on removable sheath legs, the left rear one of which is adjustable
Dimensions (the closed tray) :
H. 82 cm (32 ¼ in.)
l. 92.5 cm (36 ½ in.)
P. 46.5 cm (18 ¼ in.)
Provenance:
Sale in Versailles, Me Blache, June 14, 1962, lot 71 ;
Acquired during the latter by the present owner;
Private collection, Paris.
Comparative bibliography :
P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe siècle, Les Éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, p. 764.
W. Koeppe, Extravagant Inventions The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens, Yale University Press, pp. 163 and 165.
A Louis XVI gilt-bronze mounted, mahogany, ebony and bois citronnier mechanical games' table, by David Roentgen, circa 1780
* Information to buyers:
For an exit from the EU, a re-export CITES may be required, this being at the expense of the future purchaser.
* Information to buyers :
For an exit from the EU, a CITES re-export certificate will be necessary, at the buyer's expense.
This rare mechanical game table, with its sober and pure lines according to the decorative vocabulary of the neoclassicism of the 1780s, is typical of the mature production of David Roentgen (1743-1807), one of the most famous cabinetmakers of the last quarter of the 18th century. Born in Neuwied, son of the cabinetmaker Abraham Roentgen (1711-1793), David joined his father's workshop in 1757 and became its director in 1772.
He made it a real company of European dimensions, supplying the most important courts of continental Europe, such as that of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette who granted him the title of "cabinetmaker-mechanic of the King and Queen", Frederick the Great or Catherine II of Russia.
Our example follows the tradition of the marquetry models of the 1770's in its construction and mechanisms; the first mechanical tables of this model were made in 1771 for Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau for his country residence in Worlitz, where they are still located today.
The Worlitz tables have an inlaid decoration such as the one supplied by Roentgen for Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (cf. Extravagant Inventions The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens, Yale University Press, cat. 27).
In the 1780s, marquetry gave way to mahogany, always chosen with great care; Roentgen delivered a number of game tables of this model for the Russian imperial court, as attested by the examples still preserved today in the Pavlosk Palace, or the two tables illustrated in a watercolor by E.P. Hau's watercolor of the Arms Room of the Gatchina Palace (cf. E. Ducamp, Imperial Palaces in the Vicinity of Saint Petersburg, 1992, pp. 82-83).
Representative of the growing craze in the 18th century for games and furniture with complex mechanisms, our table can adopt four positions corresponding to different uses.
Our table reveals all the qualities and mastery of the famous German cabinetmaker: its sober structure, with powerful architectural lines, is sublimated by the skilful choice of the best quality mahogany grain, enhanced by fine moldings on the front and legs, excellent quality bronzes and impeccable construction.
The detachable and removable legs, which facilitate the transport of the table, are another characteristic of Roentgen's production.
A game table very similar to ours, from the former collection of Baron Hottinguer, sold at Christie's London, July 7, 2005, lot 535, while another was more recently shown at Christie's New York, October 7, 2022, lot 191.
Finally, we recall that the same bronze falls decorated with laurel garlands held by a ribbon bow that adorn the legs of our table are found on a number of pieces by the famous German cabinetmaker, such as an oval table in the Château de Versailles, the games table in the Bayerisches National Museum in Munich (see Extravagant Inventions The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens, Yale University Press, p.37 and p.108) or the writing table from the former collection of Baron Leopold de Rothschild sold at Christie's London on June 13, 2002, lot 55.
Estim. 30,000 - 50,000 EUR
