Kingwood Games Table
These kingwood games table pieces combine rich timbers and intricate brass mounts, offering a striking centrepiece that opens to reveal a surface for card play.
Kingwood Games Table
A kingwood games table typically appears in folding card or console formats dating from the nineteenth century, drawing heavily on French revival aesthetics. You will encounter pieces featuring decorative marquetry, parquetry, and crossbanding in contrasting woods like satinwood or rosewood.
Many examples embrace Louis XV and Rococo revival styles, characterised by serpentine lines and elaborate ormolu mounts. Others follow Regency or George III traditions, prioritising geometric wood veneers and disciplined proportions over overt ornamentation.
The surface often conceals a baize-lined interior designed for cards or roulette, shifting seamlessly from a decorative console against a wall to a functional gaming board. French workshops dominate the selection, alongside notable English interpretations from the Regency and Victorian eras.
Materials and construction
Cabinetmakers constructed these tables using dense kingwood veneers laid over a secondary timber core, often arranging the grain in geometric parquetry or floral marquetry patterns. Crossbanding in rosewood or satinwood frames the primary panels to create visual depth and contrast along the edges.
Gilt bronze and ormolu mounts are cast, chased, and fixed along the legs, aprons, and corners to accentuate the curvilinear forms of the revival styles. Porcelain plaques and brass inlays occasionally integrate directly into the wooden surfaces, adding further colour and texture to the composition.
Kingwood Games Table Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical asking prices for kingwood games table among the pieces listed under this phrase on Sellingantiques today, from the lower quarter to the upper quarter. They describe what is for sale here now, not the wider market.
Some tables incorporate roulette wheels, proving that nineteenth century parlour entertainment involved considerably higher stakes than standard card games.
Judging the execution
The distinction between standard production and exhibition grade work lies in the precision of the marquetry and the crispness of the ormolu mounts. Finer pieces display seamless veneer alignment across the folding hinges and feature heavily chased bronze work rather than smooth, cast metal.
Structural integrity during the folding action separates robust examples from weaker ones, as the pivoting mechanisms must support the weight of the top leaf without sagging. The choice of secondary woods and the complexity of the parquetry pattern further indicate the ambition of the original workshop.
G T Morant·François Linke·Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener·Henry Dasson·J Duval
The Kingwood Games Table Glossary
- Kingwood
- A dense, heavily figured Brazilian timber with dark violet-brown tones used extensively for high-end veneering in French furniture. It provides the signature striped surface seen across nineteenth century revival pieces.
- Ormolu
- Gilded bronze used for decorative mounts and sabots on furniture. The metal is cast and then finished with mercury gilding or modern electroplating to achieve a bright gold appearance.
- Marquetry
- The art of applying small pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns or pictorial scenes. Craftsmen utilise various coloured timbers to build up floral or geometric designs.
- Parquetry
- A geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative surfaces on tables and cabinets. It relies on regular shapes like squares, triangles, and lozenges to create repeatable patterns.
- Demi-lune
- A half-moon shape characteristic of console and card tables designed to sit flush against a wall. This format allows the piece to occupy minimal space until the top folds open.
- Crossbanding
- A strip of veneer applied to the border of a panel where the grain runs perpendicular to the central field. This technique frames the primary wood and stabilises the edges.
Kingwood Games Table: Frequently Asked Questions
What is a kingwood games table?
A kingwood games table is a foldable or convertible piece of furniture veneered in violet-tinted timber, specifically designed for indoor pastimes like cards and roulette.
These tables frequently feature ormolu mounts and marquetry work, functioning primarily as decorative side consoles when closed.
How do you date them?
Dating relies on stylistic markers such as the presence of Victorian revival motifs, Regency proportions, or specific French chateau aesthetics from the nineteenth century.
Construction methods, hinge types, and the attribution to recorded cabinetmakers like François Linke or Henry Dasson also help narrow the timeline.
Where were they made?
The surviving evidence points primarily to French workshops producing elaborate Louis XV style pieces, alongside English makers working in Regency and Victorian idioms.
London and Parisian cabinetmakers drove the production of these exhibition quality tables using imported tropical timbers.
How do you maintain the wood?
Maintaining kingwood requires keeping the timber away from direct sunlight and sudden humidity changes to prevent the delicate veneer from lifting or cracking.
Regular dusting with a dry cloth preserves the polished surface without introducing moisture to the antique joinery.