{"id":6141,"date":"2022-06-08T08:35:42","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T06:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebenisterie-mathieuvath.fr\/?p=6141"},"modified":"2022-06-08T08:35:45","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T06:35:45","slug":"table-a-jeux-louis-xvi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebenisterie-mathieuvath.fr\/en\/2022\/06\/08\/table-a-jeux-louis-xvi\/","title":{"rendered":"Louis XVI games table"},"content":{"rendered":"

Restoration of a late 18th-century games table (circa 1785) veneered in mahogany burl and inlaid with brass stringing, ebony, and Ferr\u00e9ol (a South American wood named after a 17th-century governor of Guyana). The legs are solid mahogany, and the interior is veneered with ebony and bone dyed green and natural. The tabletop is partially covered in leather and partially veneered in mahogany burl. The interior features two niches, each with a drawer, and a central section containing a backgammon board.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Before restoration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The gaming tables and backgammon <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It seems that gaming tables appeared at the end of the 17th century, around 1680. Before then, they were rare; they were chessboards engraved on a marble top, or inlaid on the surface of a rolling table. Apart from these rare tables, trays or chests placed on the table were used. Called "tableaux," these objects were made by tablet makers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe house of cards\u201d<\/strong>, Circa 1740. Oil on canvas. Jean-Baptiste Sim\u00e9ron Chardin (1699-1779). The gaming table, on which a young boy is diligently building a house of cards, appears in several of Chardin's paintings from 1735 onwards. It is a very simple piece of furniture, probably made of fruitwood, with a square top covered in green cloth, and a slightly curved apron with a drawer. This type of gaming table was used throughout the 18th century. National Gallery, Washington.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe house of cards\u201d<\/strong>, Circa 1740. Oil on canvas. Jean-Baptiste Sim\u00e9ron Chardin (1699-1779). The gaming table, on which a young boy is diligently building a house of cards, appears in several of Chardin's paintings from 1735 onward. It is a very simple piece of furniture, probably made of fruitwood, with a square top covered in green cloth and a slightly curved apron with a drawer. This type of gaming table was used throughout the 18th century. National Gallery, Washington.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The game of Trictrac has existed since the Middle Ages; indeed, Alfonso X the Wise (1221-1284), King of Castile, mentions it in his work: \u201cBook of Games\u201d published in 1263.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origins of the name are said to come from an onomatopoeia, which Laurent Somille, in 1738 in his third treatise, states, quoting: \u201cBackgammon (\u2026) gets its name from the noise made by the checkers, the dice, and the cups.\u201d <\/em>(extract from \u201cLe grand Trictrac\u201d, Giffert, Paris, 1756, P.1). Another hypothesis stated in; (\u201cLe jeu du trictrac comme on le joue aujourd'hui\u201d, chez Charpentier, Paris, 1715, P.4.), proposes an origin of the Greek word which can be transcribed as \u201cTris Trakus\u201d which means: three times difficult to play and understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all dice games, backgammon is undoubtedly the most widespread. The backgammon table appears to have been, in the 18th century, the quintessential gaming table. It was rectangular and, when covered with its lid, served as a writing table. With its felt-lined underside, the backgammon table could also be used as a card table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The backgammon board is decorated with twenty-four pointed figures on which the pieces move. Twenty-four holes are drilled in the edges of the board at the base of each of the twenty-four points. Three more holes are drilled in each side edge of the board. These edges are called borders. The players' borders each have twelve holes, while the side borders have only three.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Complete treatise on the game of backgammon by Guiton, 1822, p. 15<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Accessories for the backgammon game, The Games Room<\/em> p. 146, Emile Gu\u00e9rin publisher, n.d. (c. 1900)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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To play a game of backgammon you need:<\/p>\n\n\n\n