18th Century Georgian Demi Lune Card Tables, 1785, Set of 2

Description

An Exceptional Quality Pair Of 18th Century, Sheraton Period, Mahogany And Satinwood Demi Lune Shaped Card Tables, The Superbly Figured … more An Exceptional Quality Pair Of 18th Century, Sheraton Period, Mahogany And Satinwood Demi Lune Shaped Card Tables, The Superbly Figured Lift Up Tops with Attractive Banded Decoration, Enclosing Baized Playing Surfaces, Over Further Banded Panelled Friezes, Raised On Extremely Fine Turned And Tapering Legs with Elegant Fluted Decoration.

The original purpose of a card tables was to stand at the side of a room and act effectively as a side, or console type table, with the ability to be pulled out into the middle of a room and opened up to allow gaming at a moments notice. They were often part of a suite of tables and the content of this suite would normally include some tables of identical design with a wooden surface inside as well, as opposed to the baized playing surface found in this pair. They are normally referred to as tea tables.

Over the years however many of these suites have become separated into pairs and nowadays even most of those pairs have been split into single tables, which is one of the reasons that such great additional value is attached to good original pairs of card tables. Also of course they are one of the most elegant solutions possible to find for a whole host of spaces around the home even if one doesn’t intend to play any cards or open them out at any point.

Card games amongst other things was of course a popular pastime during the 18th and 19th centuries, so of course whenever one was entertaining it would be almost certain that your card table would be brought out into use. It was therefore important to people to ensure that the card tables they owned were exactly as they wanted them to be and the overall design, or quality, was felt to be befitting of their social status at the time.

These are exceptional examples, starting with their lovely demi lune shaped design and then followed through with the overall quality of construction and timbers used. The veneers are extremely cleverly laid out to create an elegant contrasting pattern to the tops and the legs are incredibly elegant and incredibly fine. Overall the tables certainly exude class and sophistication.

The baized plaing surface on both has been relatively recently replaced, meaning that it is in functional condition and there is no doubt at all that the tables are fit for original purpose.

Overall the condition is very, very good with very little repairs of note to speak of regarding the veneers and timbers. A couple of the legs on the tables have understandably suffered damage at some point in the past and been repaired historically. This has resulted in a couple of the legs being slightly skewed, but the tables still stand perfectly happy and it seems a shame to mess around with the historic old repairs when the tables are still functioning perfectly well. However should a prospective purchaser be keen to have the legs totally straightened then this should be possible.

As with all items we offer for sale these 18th century card tables have been inspected by our highly skilled, well trained, traditional antique furniture restorers and received a natural wax polish to ensure that they are ready for immediate placement after purchase.

Circa 1785.

Height 28in.
Width 36in.
Depth 18in. less