Vintage directory game table. France, ca. 1800. Mahogany. One... Lot 12

Vintage directory game table. France, ca. 1800. Mahogany. One of the feet is broken. Provenance: private collection conceived from the 1970s between London and Madrid. Measurements: 75,5 x 108 x 54 cm; 75 x 108 x 109 cm (open). Game table made of mahogany wood which is supported by five legs, one of which is used as a support for folding down the tabletop. This sober piece stands out for its legs, which are designed as stipes with ornamentation in the lower part simulating feet and in the upper part representing female busts as if they were caryatids. All the legs have the same ornamentation except for the rear one, which does not have the female-face-like finial. The pieces give way to a large curved skirt, the back of which conceals a drawer for storing various objects related to the game. It is worth noting that the half-moon shaped board can be folded down so that when it is opened it creates a complete circumference adorned with a green carpet. The French Directory or neoclassical style, considered a transition between the Louis XVI style and the Empire style, is highly functional and light. This decorative simplicity and elegance of lines is common in French furniture, as is the use of "exotic" woods and the valuing of their grain by arranging large surfaces in these materials (or on slabs), without decorative motifs that interrupt the natural lines created by the grain.