TWO ITALIAN GAME TABLES FORMING A PAIR, EMILIA-ROMAGNA, MIDDLE OF THE 18th CENTURY One in cherry veneer and stained wood inlays on a walnut base, the other in ash and plum veneer on a walnut base, the top of one of them decorated with the coat of arms of the Malatesta family of Padua, both unfolding and revealing an interior forming a checkerboard, the waist opening with a drawer, the cambered legs ending in a scroll, the two backs pivoting; small accidents Dimensions (closed top): H. 75 cm and 76.5 cm (29 ½ in. and 30 ¼ in.) l. : 87 cm (34 ¼ in.) P. 43 cm (17 in.) Tray dimensions (open): 86 x 86 cm (33 ¾ × 33 ¾ in.) Provenance: Paola Cuoghi Gallery, Modena; Acquired from the latter by the current owner. A matched pair of Italian games' table, Emilia Romagna, mid 18th century, one of the two with the Malatesta family coat of arms * Information for 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. The lines of these two charming game tables characterized by rocaille marquetry and uprights with very slender profiles are characteristic of the production of Emilia-Romagna, in particular of the cities of Modena and Ferrara, in the middle of the eighteenth century. The model was very successful and was the object of numerous orders from aristocratic families living in other Italian regions; as a result, this model is sometimes erroneously identified as being made in one of these regions. Sometimes the tops of this type of table have an inlaid decoration showing the coat of arms of the commissioning parties (cf. M. Trionfi Honorati, Il Mobile Marchigiano, 1971, p. 112, fig. 151 for a table decorated with the coat of arms of the Baccarini di Fano family). One of ours, on the other hand, shows the coat of arms of the noble Malatesta family of Padua. A pair of tables comparable to ours is illustrated in G. Manni, Mille Mobili Emiliani, Artioli Editore, Modena, 1980, p. 185, fig. 432, while another, preserved in the collection of Princess Elika Del Drago is illustrated in G. Lizziani, Il Mobile Romano, Görlich Editore, p. 83, fig. 133. Among the few rare examples that have appeared in public sales in recent years, we recall: the pair sold at Sotheby's London, Piano Nobile, on November 5, 2013, lot 74 (GBP £ 25,000) or the second pair sold at Sotheby's London, on December 4, 2007, lot (GBP £ 30,500).