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Description
A fine quality late 19th-century eight-sided occasional traveling table with exquisite inlay; this table consists of an octagonal top meticulously inlaid with ebony, brass, and bone, forming a checkerboard pattern which doubles as a game board; bordered with banding of ebony and bone, adorned with foliate, quatrefoil, and meandering vine decorations; the outer beveled edge features repeating inlaid quatrefoil decoration. It is supported on an eight-sided folding base (now secured 1 ) of Moorish influence, each side showcasing rectangular panels with a single radiating, inlay quatrefoil design above a lower section of arcaded design with foliate sprays; India circa 1890 2
The Moorish style of furniture was very popular in Europe during the latter part of the 19th century, with many areas in India producing items of superb quality. Similar tables were sold by Liberty of London during the late 19th century.
This highly decorative gaming/traveling table is in excellent and stable condition.
height: 24 in. (61 cm.),
diameter: 26 in. (66 cm.)
Further readings and sources:
- Small blocks are attached to each flat edge that can be removed to return the table to its original condition. ↩
- Anglo-Indian furniture exhibits influences from both British and Indian styles. Traveling tables such as these were portable, versatile surfaces for tea and other functions. This table would have been used for chess or checkers as well as an occasional table. They were designed to collapse for easy transportation. These would have been used in Victorian times by European travelers and officials who often moved throughout British Colonial India. ↩
