Card table, English, c. 1785.

Semi-circular card table, inlaid with various woods. The top of the folding flap is decorated with a fan and guilloche pattern festooned with husks with a banding of padouk and a scallop design in satinwood with trefoil headed ornament in the spandrels inlaid on a ground of padouk, the whole enclosed by bandings of kingwood, satinwood and harewood. The frieze is divided into three panels by blocks inlaid with paterae and decorated with husks; the legs are of padouk and inlaid with satinwood bandings and pendants of husks. The two back legs are hinged and swing out to support the flap.

Semi-circular side tables were characteristic of the Neoclassical style promoted by the architect Robert Adam in the 1770s and 1780s. This card table is designed to stand against the wall, as a semi-circular side table, when not in use. The table's floral marquetry and light-coloured, non-European woods would have been fashionable in the 1780s.

The table was bought by the V&A from the dealer A.E. Perry, in 1929.

Previously on loan to Macclesfield Silk Museum (1987 - 2014)

Card tables were designed to be folded against the wall when not in use. This table would have sat in a drawing room or saloon, to be opened up and moved around the room when required for a game. In this case the table's two back legs swing out to support the front flap, allowing four players to sit comfortably at the table without revealing their cards to each other.

Card playing was one of the most important social pastimes of the 18th-century. Cards were played by all social groups, both at home and in public spaces such as assembly rooms. Knowledge of the rules of fashionable card games was a key social accomplishment, and large numbers of manuals were published to teach players the latest games. Cards provided an opportunity for both gossip and socialising, while the placing of bets also allowed gamers to demonstrate financial accuity and the skilful negotiation of risk.

The semi-circular form of this card table, and its floral marquetry, would have been fashionable in Britain in the 1770s and 1780s. Card tables such as this were designed to sit against the wall when not in use. When required for a game, they could be brought into the centre of the room and unfolded.

Card playing was one of the most important social activities of the 18th-century. While this table would have been used domestically, for a group of up to four players, cards were also played in public spaces such as assembly rooms and coffee houses. A knowledge of the most fashionable card games was a key social accomplishment of the period, allowing players opportunities for both social interaction and gossip, as well as the placing of bets.

W.16-1929