Games Table Called Tric-trac In Black Lacquered Wood

So-called tric-trac games table in black lacquered wood resting on four thin arched legs. The belt is cut in the shape of a crossbow and opens with two drawers hidden on the sides. The removable tray has a black and white checkerboard on one side and a leather-covered writing desk on the other. The board reveals the backgammon game inlaid with bone and green-tinted bone. The games table is garnished with gilded and chiseled bronzes in sabots and scraps decorated with busts of bearded men draped in the antique style. Louis precious” (Roubo). It is interesting to note that Roubo explicitly mentions ebony, while he remains evasive on the nature of other woods. We note in fact that game tables were, throughout the 18th century, frequently constructed of dark wood. Under the Regency, black wood (ebony and blackened wood) remained widely used; amaranth and other exotic woods are also starting to find a place, but black wood, whose aesthetic is reminiscent of ebony, a luxurious material, remains an unbeatable material in the creation of gaming tables. The museum de Cluny preserves one of the oldest game boxes known to date, dating from the end of the 15th century: we already find there the aesthetic which remained in place throughout the 18th century: the general structure is in ebony, and the game marks (checkerboard, backgammon tabs) are already alternating between bone and green-tinted wood. Gaming is an activity definitely linked to sociability in the 18th century, so this type of furniture is frequently found in interiors. Different typologies developed, the table being able to be triangular, square or even octagonal (see Roubo). Our table is a so-called “chessboard” table due to the presence of the checkerboard top which covers the tric-trac boxes.