Antique Tables - Card Table
Card and Gaming Tables
The earliest form of gaming table was, probably, a wooden board marked out with lines and placed on another piece of furniture. It was not until the mid fifteenth century when playing cards were introduced that small tables started being used with the dual function of being used for dice, and when covered with a cloth, for cards.
In the reign of Charles I a number of smaller tables covered with velvet and other costly materials, which were no doubt used for cards, started to appear in the Royal palaces.
The earliest type of table especially designed for cards was introduced at the close of the seventeenth century. These are veneered in Walnut and generally have circular folding tops. The 18th century brought with it more advanced features such as cylindrical corners for holding candle sticks and hollowed wells designed to store money or counters. It was at this time that card playing became little short of a mania.
By the time George III and Queen Charlotte were in power there were attempts to discourage gambling by forbidding it in the Royal palaces. This culminated in fewer card tables being made in the regency period. Sheraton unwillingly notices in his directory (1803) that they are 'oftener used then to good purpose'.
Card games were played by the upper and middle classes for education, amusement and money. The small sunken well on each side of the table could house the coins won by each player. Cards were the chief evening activity, as lighting was often too poor to read for long after dark. Cards were used for instruction in a wide range of subjects. Knowledge of the rules of fashionable games was taught in the mid-18th century by gaming masters. George II and Queen Caroline were devoted card players; the king's favourite game was 'commerce' and the queen's 'quadrille'.
