Exceptional Gervais Durand 19th Century Mahogany and Gilt Bronze Gueridon Bouillotte Table #2797

A late 19th Century French mahogany and gilt bronze mounted Gueridon or bouillotte table in the Louis XVI style stamped Gervais Durand in wonderful original condition retaining its reversible inset top.

France Circa 1880. 

The Carrara marble top with a pierced brass gallery surround and retaining the detachable mahogany framed insert with green baize to one side and leather to the opposite, the frieze having a single drawer with laurel wreath handles, in-between gilded chiseled bronzes of arrows, flaming torches with bowed ribbons and budding leaves, on square bronze headed tapering legs joined by a conforming marble incurved quatreform undertier with a pierced brass gallery, raised on ormolu leaf cappings and castors, stamped G Durand to the underside.

This French bouillotte / gueridon table is a superb example with fine quality mounts and construction having a variety of uses within the home. It is extremely rare to be found with the original detachable inset top ‘bouchon’ still retaining its original leather to one side and baized playing surface with leather edging to the other. 

Worthy of any collection with a similar being housed in the French National Furniture Collection in Paris, please see below…

https://collection.mobiliernational.culture.gouv.fr/objet/GME-17590-000

Gervais-Maximilien-Eugène Durand was born in Paris on 30th July 1839. He worked in various parts of Paris producing extremely high quality furniture in the 18th century manner.

Durand participated in the Universal Exhibition of 1889 where he obtained a silver medal for his furniture. A report from A Picard, one of the contemporary commentators at the time, noted that M.DURAND a skilful and modest cabinet maker, exhibits for the first time furniture of first order, which he drew and executed himself; he is in the footsteps of the masters BEURDELEY and DASSON.

A bouillotte table is a round marble-topped card table with a pierced metal gallery above a panelled frieze, the gallery allowed for a bouchon felt top to be placed securely on top of the marble when the table was being used for the game. Bouillotte is a card game that was extremely popular in France in the 18th century and carried on through to the 19th Century.