Games table desk
Encyclopedia
A Games table desk is an antique desk
form which combines the type of surface required for writing with a surface etched or veneered in the pattern of a given board game
. It also provides sufficient storage space for writing implements and a separate space for storing game accessories such as counters. It is often called a "games table" or game table, which leads to confusion with pieces of furniture (antique or modern) which are built specifically for gaming only, with no intention or provision for use as a desk.
With the gradual creation of specialized rooms in the homes of the nobility
and of the richer members of society during the 18th century, specialized furniture
followed. Instead of having large halls which could be transformed in a wink into a dining room, ballroom, or audience chamber (thanks to big, sturdy transportable furniture), the trend now was towards a large number of smaller rooms in which smaller and more delicate specialized furniture stayed in permanence.
Just before the French revolution
furniture out-specialized itself. Only the extremely rich could afford to have items of furniture for every possible activity: A dresser for cosmetics
, a commode for toiletry, a lady's desk for writing during most of the year and a lady's Fire screen desk
for cold evenings, equivalent desks for the gentleman, a game table for chess
, another one for checkers, a billiards
table, and so on. This is when furniture giving dual use or triple use became popular among those who were merely rich and could not afford having cabinet makers constantly making new items for their homes. One of the most popular of these combinations was the Games table desk.
The Games table desk has a great variety of forms. Like most of the desks of that period it was built on commission to whatever new design or modification of an old design the customer might want. Most of them have in common a double sided top. This top is covered on one side with a gaming board and on the other side with tooled leather or some other material suitable for placing paper on it and writing with a quill
. The top board is sometimes attached loosely and sometimes very securely to the main body of the desk, and it is sometimes hinged. Some other times there is not one but several top boards, kept stacked on one another, each having a different board game design on it.
Desk
A desk is a furniture form and a class of table often used in a work or office setting for reading or writing on or using a computer. Desks often have one or more drawers to store office supplies and papers. Unlike a regular table, usually only one side of a desk is suitable to sit on . Not all...
form which combines the type of surface required for writing with a surface etched or veneered in the pattern of a given board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
. It also provides sufficient storage space for writing implements and a separate space for storing game accessories such as counters. It is often called a "games table" or game table, which leads to confusion with pieces of furniture (antique or modern) which are built specifically for gaming only, with no intention or provision for use as a desk.
With the gradual creation of specialized rooms in the homes of the nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
and of the richer members of society during the 18th century, specialized furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
followed. Instead of having large halls which could be transformed in a wink into a dining room, ballroom, or audience chamber (thanks to big, sturdy transportable furniture), the trend now was towards a large number of smaller rooms in which smaller and more delicate specialized furniture stayed in permanence.
Just before the French revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
furniture out-specialized itself. Only the extremely rich could afford to have items of furniture for every possible activity: A dresser for cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
, a commode for toiletry, a lady's desk for writing during most of the year and a lady's Fire screen desk
Fire screen desk
The fire screen desk was a very small antique desk meant to be placed in front of a fireplace to keep a user's feet warm while he or she was stationary while writing...
for cold evenings, equivalent desks for the gentleman, a game table for chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, another one for checkers, a billiards
Billiards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
table, and so on. This is when furniture giving dual use or triple use became popular among those who were merely rich and could not afford having cabinet makers constantly making new items for their homes. One of the most popular of these combinations was the Games table desk.
The Games table desk has a great variety of forms. Like most of the desks of that period it was built on commission to whatever new design or modification of an old design the customer might want. Most of them have in common a double sided top. This top is covered on one side with a gaming board and on the other side with tooled leather or some other material suitable for placing paper on it and writing with a quill
Quill
A quill pen is a writing implement made from a flight feather of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, metal-nibbed pens, the fountain pen, and, eventually, the ballpoint pen...
. The top board is sometimes attached loosely and sometimes very securely to the main body of the desk, and it is sometimes hinged. Some other times there is not one but several top boards, kept stacked on one another, each having a different board game design on it.