Card table
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1730 - circa 1740
Materials
Burr walnut, walnut, oak, baize
Measurements
74.5 x 82 x 40 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Melford Hall, Suffolk
NT 926529
Summary
A burr walnut gaming or card table, English, circa 1730 - circa 1740. The top with projecting semi-circular corners with boxwood stringing and cross-banded border, the hinged leaf opening to reveal a baize lined playing surface with dished and veneered recesses, supported on cabriole legs carved with shells and acanthus, and with spandrels in the form of birds' heads. The legs terminating in ball and talon feet beneath a slender ring-turning or collar at the ankle. The rear legs of hinged concertina action to support fold-over playing surface. A sliding oak drawer or tray to the underside. -- The legs of this gaming table are of particular interest. The spandrels are carved to resemble beaked heads of birds of prey whilst the knees imitate feathered plumage, the whole terminating in talon-like claws gripping ball feet. A closely comparable example, also with stylised bird legs, is illustrated in 'The Dictionary of English Furniture' (1986, Volume III, Figure 23). The dished veneered wells to the playing surface were used for candles and gaming tokens or counters.
Provenance
Date of acquisition not recorded, but part of the Hyde Parker collection and by descent to Sir Richard Hyde Parker, 12th Bt. (b. 1937). Transferred to the National Trust by the Treasury in 1960.
References
Macquoid, P & Edwards R (1986), The Dictionary of English Furniture (softback edition), Vol. III, p. 199