Travel tric-trac table with P.Denizot system circa 1770

Travel backgammon table with P. Denizot system, circa 1770

Rare folding games table in precious wood marquetry.
Resting on four arched legs, it is veneered on all sides with a marquetry of rosewood cubes with sections of grain and end grain*, the contrast of which creates a three-dimensional optical illusion.
The reserves and legs are veneered with amaranth.
The top, shaped like an ogee-shaped box, opens with a simple push of a button to reveal a luxurious backgammon game in ebony, ivory, and green-tinted bone; while a small trigger and two iron hooks release removable "accordion-style" crosspieces that accommodate the underside of the open top.

The legs are finished with four small original shoes in finely chiseled and mercury-gilded bronze.

Made of oak, in very good condition.

The crosspiece edge is stamped P.DENIZOT*.

Parisian work from the Louis XV period circa 1770 by Pierre Denizot.

Dimensions:

Height: 76.5 cm; Width: 67.5 cm; Depth: 42 cm; Unfolded: 84 cm

Table illustrated on page 229 of Alexandre Pradère's book "French Cabinetmakers from Louis XIV to the Revolution"

Provenance:

Collection Florence Gould (1895-1983)

-Vente Sotheby’s Monaco 25 Juin 1984

-Collection privée Paris

Pierre Denizot in museums:
Low armoire - Cognac-Jay Museum - Paris
Medal-shaped writing desk inlaid with fleurons in green-tinted interlacing, canted sides with simulated fluting, twenty-six small interior drawers - Jacquemart André Museum - Paris
Small Louis XVI mahogany commode inlaid with tiles, canted legs - Victoria and Albert Museum - London

BIBLIOGRAPHY
French Furniture of the 18th Century - Pierre Kjellberg - Les Editions de l'Amateur - 2002
Cabinetmakers of the 18th Century - Comte François de Salverte - Les éditions d'Art et d'Histoire - 1934
Parisian Cabinetmakers' and Joiners' Workshops in the 17th and 18th Centuries - Guillaume Janneau - S.E.R.G., 1975, p. 122

Pierre Denizot was a Parisian cabinetmaker who became a master on August 1, 1740. He ran a business on Rue Neuve-Saint-Roch and ranked among the capital's leading manufacturers.
He was the appointed cabinetmaker to the Count of Artois.
The son of cabinetmaker and merchant Jacques Denizot, Pierre Denizot worked in his father's workshop, and although he obtained his master's degrees in 1740, he did not register them until 1760, upon his father's death. It was only then that he began to mark his works with his personal stamp.
He established his business on Rue Neuve-Saint-Roch, worked for his colleague Léonard Boudin, and received royal and princely commissions for the châteaux of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Maisons-Lafitte. From 1764 to 1766, he was sworn accountant for his corporation and, from 1776, became the official supplier to the Count of Artois, to whom he supplied all manner of furniture, both luxury and ordinary.
He possessed great technical skill and produced pieces primarily in the Louis XV or Transitional styles. Very little Louis XVI furniture actually left his workshops. His creations were mostly inlaid with geometric motifs, circles, squares, diamonds, or floral and trophy motifs, drawn with meticulous craftsmanship. It was while carrying out an order placed by one of his clients, Monsieur, Comte de Provence, that Pierre Denizot died in his workshop in 1782.
Dated July 29 and November 27, 1782, the Annonces, Affiches et Avis divers mention an auction organized after the cabinetmaker's death, in which it is mentioned, in addition to a large stock of mahogany, amaranth and ebony, a significant number of chests of drawers, wardrobes, cylinder desks, secretaires, game tables, round and oval tables ... "furnished with cast iron and gilded ornaments of ground gold"