Set of three ivory and mother-of-pearl quadrille game boxes, - Lot 116

Lot n° 116
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Estimation :
1200 - 1500 EUR
Set of three ivory and mother-of-pearl quadrille game boxes, - Lot 116
Set of three ivory and mother-of-pearl quadrille game boxes, each with engraved and polychromed decoration representing the heart. One white, one green and one red box; the lids feature a revolving disc with a skylight that allows the disc to be stopped on a number from I to X; they are adorned with pairs of Commedia dell'arte characters - dancers and a Pierrot (resembling Watteau's Pierrot) - and flowers; the insides of the lids are decorated with animated landscapes of characters accompanied, for two of them, by the inscription mariaval le Jeune a Paris . fecit; the undersides of the boxes also feature floral decoration with snail, butterfly and swan; each box holds a number of different counters; gilded metal mounts. Paris, second quarter of the 18th century. H. approx. 2 - W. approx. 7.9 - D. approx. 5.7 cm Total gross weight: 268.5 g. (one box slightly deformed, one button missing) Quadrille was a particularly popular card game in France and Europe throughout the 18th century, derived from the Spanish game l'hombre, played by three or four players, each holding 10 cards. Most of the boxes were made by the table maker Mariaval, who had workshops in Paris and Rouen, as can be seen from the signatures on the boxes in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv.BK-NM-624-A,B, C and D) and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (inv. AA, M.14 & A-R - 1938, M .16 &A-Y-1938, M.15 & A-Z1938 and M.17 & A-X-1938).
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