Games table - Wood - System “pull-out action”

French mahogany gaming table with a pull-out action mechanism — Louis XV / Rococo Revival style, c. 1850–1870.

Object: gaming table / folding card table
Origin: France
Dating: c. 1850–1870, probably c. 1860
Style: Louis XV Revival / Rococo Revival
Historical period: Second French Empire
Wood: mahogany and, possibly, a figured mahogany veneer on some surfaces
Interior: playing surface lined with green fabric/felt
Mechanism: pull-out action, with extensible frame and rear legs
Closed dimensions: 72 × 80 × 40 cm
Open dimensions: 72 × 80 × 80 cm

Elegant 19th-century French mahogany gaming table, serpentine in form and inspired by Louis XV, featuring a fold-out top and an unusual pull-out action mechanism.

When closed, it presents the appearance of an elegant console table with a mere 40 cm depth. The rectangular top has a pronounced serpentine contour, rounded corners, and successive peripheral moldings.

The tabletop wood displays a pleasant figure and a deep reddish-brown tone, with patina acquired from use.

The front waist follows the movement of the top, tracing a wavy line with a slight central dip. At the center is a decorative carved and pierced composition, consisting of a central flower, leaves, scrolls, and symmetrical volutes.

At the bases of the front legs, there are also carved flowers and vegetal motifs, creating continuity between the waist and the supports.

The four legs are tall, elegant, and strongly curved cabriole legs, ending in narrow feet slightly turned. The design is very characteristic of the nineteenth-century revival of French Louis XV furniture.

The mechanism — one of the piece’s strong points: this is where the table becomes most interesting. The top consists of two halves hinged together. To transform the table:
- the rear frame is pulled horizontally;
- the two rear legs move with that frame;
- the depth increases from about 40 cm to 80 cm;
- the top is then opened over the expanded frame;
- a nearly square gaming table is obtained, 80 × 80 cm.

This mechanism is documented in nineteenth-century French furniture, described as pull-out action, serpentine top, cabriole legs with carved flowers, and an elaborately carved central frieze.

Interior: Open, the top reveals the gaming surface lined with blue/green fabric, bounded by the mahogany frame itself. Signs of use and tonal variation in the upholstery are visible.

Louis XV characteristics are evident in: cabriole legs; curves and counter-curves; serpentine waist; carved flowers; volutes and vegetal motifs; light, elegant design.

Historical context is primarily the Second French Empire, when Louis XV and Louis XVI styles returned strongly to fashion.

The combination of construction, mechanism, moldings, carving, proportions, type of legs, and aging is consistent with the second half of the early nineteenth century.

Condition: The piece shows visible signs of use and aging, but retains the original readability and elegance very well.